Saviors
by Radiation Soap IV
Summary: Only a few soldiers can determine the preservation of thousands of lives- and each other, through sacrifice, compassion and brotherhood.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: Operation Swordbreaker**

SSgt. Henry Blackburn – 1st Recon Marines

March 15, 2014. 1300 Zulu Time

Al Sulaymaniyah, Iraq

"_Go tell that long-tongued liar…go and tell that midnight rider…tell the rambler, the gambler, the…backbiter…tell'em that god's gonna cut'em down…"_

Blackburn opened his eyes and looked around. Everyone was sitting silently, bunched up together in the LAV. He was sitting next to Matkovic, the Navy Ordnance Disposal technician. He wore green camouflage pattern outfit, standing out among the others who all wore the same digital desert camouflage outfits.

Montes, Campo and Chaffin were sitting across with them. Everyone was leaning forward, their rifle barrels pointing upwards. The weariness of the past few days was showing on their faces.

Blackburn was only twenty-five years old. He had dark brown hair and pale blue eyes. He had been a Marine since he was eighteen, following his elders' footsteps. His father had served in Vietnam, and his grandfather had fought in the Second World War. It seemed appropriate that he enlist as well.

It seemed like another day in Iraq other than the rising of a new group known as the PLR- the People's Liberation and Resistance. It made Blackburn shake his head. They were doing more killing than liberating. What were they even liberating? Wasn't that the US Military's job now?

Blackburn sighed as he looked at his helmet. He had written his nickname 'Black' on the front and back of the helmet in black marker. As he put it on their headsets crackled to life.

_"Misfit One-Three, this is Misfit Actual." _said Captain Quinton Cole, the leader of Blackburn's unit- the glory hound who just wanted to raise his prestige. _"Be advised we are crossing the LOD in two mikes. Over." _

"Copy that." Campo said, putting a hand to the side of his helmet. Montes's head perked up and he looked over at the others.

"Yo, does anyone else really not get what the fuck we're doin' here?" he asked, obviously irritated with their objective, as he always was.

"Quit being a fucking hippie, Montes!" the round-faced Chaffin reached across Campo and smacked Montes on the shoulder once. Montes shook his head and shifted in his seat.

"I'm just saying, bro. If this is about the PLR, we should be in Iran- not Iraq."

"They're crossing borders, dawg. PLR is the right people, alright? They don't make'em any righter." Campo waved his hand as Cole came over the radio again.

_"Misfit One-Three, this is Misfit Actual. We have a situation developing here. Get your team dismounted and into the staging area ASAP."_

"This is One-Three, copy. Out."

"What the fuck are we stopping here for; our objective's twenty klicks north of here." Montes complained.

"I don't know Montes." Campo shrugged. "Yeah, let's get out on the road." The LAV groaned as it grinded to a stop. The doors opened and everyone picked up their weapons. "Okay, let's go. Move!" Everyone piled out of the LAV. Blackburn was the last to get out, holding his rifle with one hand and he helped himself out with the other.

They walked slowly into the blistering heat of the Iraqi sun. Choppers buzzed overhead, HUMVEEs and LAVs were parked all around them. Marines were standing guard and moving all about. "I guess we're late for the party." Campo went over to one of the Marines standing guard. "Where's the ell-tee?"

The Marine looked battered and he turned tiredly to the squad. "Hang a right up here…" he motioned with his head to an alleyway just ahead of them.

"Thanks."

The team walked forwards slowly, passing Marines who were still busy clearing out the buildings in the staging area. Some came out with a handcuffed prisoner- some were in gear, most were civilians.

The prisoners were shoved into a HUMVEE, padded down or were put with the others kneeling on the sidewalk. Nearby families cried and wailed as they watched their husbands get dragged away.

Montes shared a disapproving glance with Blackburn.

"You ever ask yourself how this part of the world gets so fucked up all the time?" he asked no one in particular.

"I just work here, Dave." Chaffin joked.

"Hopefully we won't have to work here for much longer." Blackburn shrugged, flicking the safety off on his rifle. "I certainly want to get back home soon."

"Yeah, how's Charlene doing?" Matkovic asked over his shoulder. Blackburn felt his lips curl upwards slightly. Just thinking of his fiancé made him happy. Charlene was so far away, yet every time he closed his eyes it felt like she was right in front of him.

"She's doing well, out of college with flying colors. She's a journalist for one of the news channels now."

"Really, I thought you said she did freelance writing." Montes inquired.

"She still does that, but Charlene wanted to get some money so we can set up a home for our family when I get back."

"You're gonna have a baby?"

"Of course!" the team veered into the alley which was bathed in shadows from the surrounding buildings.

"You're not gonna wait?"

"Me and Charlene have been close ever since we were little. We figure we've had plenty of time to spend with each other."

"No offense pal…" Chaffin said with a chuckle. "…but I honestly can't see you leaving."

Blackburn chuckled but it was true. He had some rough spots in his past, dealing with senior officers and procedure. But Blackburn had shown that he was a marine who was devoted to his country, to his people and to his squad and did what he believed what was best for all three. Blackburn loved the Marine Corps. He loved Charlene more.

After this tour, he was going home for good.

The group gathered around a table where Cole was standing, sipping from a mug of coffee as he overlooked a map. He paused, trying to create a bit of aura to him. Blackburn looked at Montes who rolled his eyes.

"Gentlemen, welcome." He started. "As you know we're dealing with the PLR insurgents crossing over from Iran. A lot of sectarian tension…" he shook his head slowly at the map. "I counsel you to remember gentlemen; the people of this country are not your enemy. The PLR is."

Blackburn restrained himself from snorting. He had to admit, Cole was a good commanding officer when it came to combat. He knew exactly how to deal with any situation, where to put his teams and how to use support correctly. Of course, his ways of trying to make himself look like a king got in the way, with his speeches of right and wrong, friend and foe and the rest of the bullshit Blackburn already knew.

Cole looked down at the map. "At oh-nine-thirty we lost contact with Viper squad. They were investigating a possible IED near Spinza Meat Market…" Cole jabbed a finger to the map and looked up seriously. "…and that's a pretty bad fuckin' part of town. We believe the PLR are involved. I'm sending you in to find our marines, provide support and calling in CASEVAC if necessary. You're the quick reaction force gentlemen. I'm trusting you to handle this. Let's go find our marines!"

_You mean us. Not you; you'll be here drinking coffee. _

"We're on it. Let's go!" Campo led the team to a jog as they continued down the alley.

"Operation begins. Safety's off, stay frosty." Blackburn said to the others.

"We're way behind, gentlemen." Campo said once they were far enough away from Cole, trying to mimic him. "Let's go find this patrol."

"Do we have a sitrep on enemy inside this district?" Montes asked as he checked his M240 LMG.

"Assume the worst." The team entered a small garage like room with a counter. They stacked up around a door and Campo kicked it open. "Go." They ran through the door, quickly moving down the alleyway until they came to another door.

A dog jumped against a fence, barking and whining as the team got ready to move into the next building.

"Getting mad creep-out vibes here…" Chaffin murmured. Campo shouldered the door and it opened. The team went in a hallway that came up to a corner that led to the right.

"ID your targets." Campo ordered as he cautiously moved around the corner with his rifle raised, looking through the holographic sight.

"What is this? A school?" Chaffin asked.

"Oh right, I keep forgetting; they don't have schools where you come from." Montes joked, earning a chuckle from Matkovic and Blackburn. Chaffin growled and was going to say something back but Campo intervened.

"Stick, together. Check your corners." he sounded stern. Blackburn knew when he used that tone of voice, Campo knew they were coming up on something. Being in the man's squad since he entered the corps made the signs clearly visible- the same went for the others.

Blackburn had been in training with Montes and Chaffin, and when they went into combat they were replacements for Campo's fireteam. Matkovic joined a bit later and the five had been close ever since. Although they never said anything about it, Blackburn knew they all felt very close to each other.

_Trust…Loyalty…Brotherhood…Family… _

Blackburn felt that these were the words that described them all.

He was snapped from his thoughts as the room shook and the ground rumbled. A few windows and lights broke and glass shattered on the floor. Dust lazily drifted down through the rays of sunlight from the windows above them.

"What was that?" Matkovic asked as they slowly made their way up some stairs at the end of the room.

"Someone needs to tell EOD to blow those ammo dumps further away." Montes shook his head at Campo's statement.

"Quake tremor- we're like ninety klicks from a major fault line." Blackburn bumped his shoulder.

"Might be the smartest thing you ever said." Montes grinned and shouldered him back.

The team came up to another alley that was darker than the others. They came up to a gate that led to the highway type road that went through the city. A burning car was outside and debris dotted the road.

"Big cross-street here; hella exposed…"

"Wait one, something's coming. Get back. Wait for him to pass." Everyone got low and pressed against the walls of the alley. Blackburn crouched behind Campo and looked at the road.

A technical passed them, loaded with troops and a mounted machine gun in the back. There was an irritated groan. To them, there was nothing technical about technicals. It was just a pickup truck with a big gun in the back. Nothin fancy, very easy to put together and there were always in stock for some reason with the locals. "Let's move."

Chaffin pushed the gate open. "Cross in twos. Black, you and Matkovic take the door on the right." Campo motioned with his hand.

"Okay, moving!"

"Moving!" the team sprinted across the road.

"Get the lead out Black, now!" Campo led Montes and Chaffin through the alley beside the garage that Matkovic and Blackburn had kicked their way into. They moved into the next garage through a door.

"Not a single civvie. I don't like this shit." Chaffin was standing at the door where Matkovic ran out. Blackburn went out to follow him.

_Crack! _A sniper rifle went off and a bullet slammed into Chaffin's shoulder. He dropped his rifle and tumbled onto the ground. Campo leaped over a low wall and joined Montes and Matkovic behind a wall of tires and other materials.

"Gun! Sniper!" Montes shouted. Gunfire broke out as a stream of insurgents moved into the parking lot, their weapons blazing.

"Cover me!" Blackburn yelled as he grabbed the back of Chaffin's vest and began dragging him into the garage.

"Popping smoke!"

"Where the fuck is he!" bullets began whizzing past Blackburn's face. He tugged harder on Chaffin's vest, struggling to drag his heavy friend.

"Get him inside come on, come on!" Blackburn was able to get him behind a column and sat him up against it.

"Hey, you okay? You okay?" Chaffin couldn't speak but he nodded, clutching his bleeding shoulder. "I'll be right back okay, I gotta help the guys, just hold on Jack."

Blackburn joined the others and began returning fire. He had clicked his fire mode to single shot, wanting to conserve ammo. Immediately an insurgent ran into the open and Blackburn pumped three rounds into his chest.

A heavier weapon opened up on them.

"Take the fucking guy out!" Blackburn spotted one of their attackers firing an LMG from behind a car. Blackburn aimed and fired, killing him. After a few more minutes of fighting the ambush ceased and the insurgents fell back. "They're moving they're moving!"

As the dust settled the squad reloaded. "Let's go, let's go behind me!" Campo moved into the parking lot. "Gimme a sitrep; I'm up."

"I'm up." Matkovic answered.

"I'm up." Blackburn raised a thumb.

"I'm up, I'm fucked up but I'm up…" Montes grumbled; he had dived from a grenade and a piece of debris had slammed into his chest. They proceeded into the parking lot only a few feet before Matkovic stood up and pointed at the building ahead of him.

"RPG, my twelve-second floor; stay away from the fucking cars!" Blackburn was too late to move. The rocket hit a nearby car, blowing him on his back in the pavement. He laid there for a second before getting to his feet and sliding into cover.

The insurgents had regrouped and were attacking again. But more bullets began flying from behind them.

"Friendlies coming in, friendlies coming in!" a voice shouted. Blackburn looked to see another team belonging to Misfit run into the parking lot. "Everybody light that building the fuck up!" the team leader cried desperately.

Blackburn fired the rest of his clip at the building and bent over to reload. He spotted Campo waving to him from across the parking lot, crouched behind a car.

"Black, on me!" Blackburn took a breath and sprinted across the pavement, pullets pinging around his feet. He jumped into cover next to Campo.

"What the fuck man!"

"Tangos by the building, far end of the parking lot. They're flanking!" Matkovic yelled. Campo swore under his breath.

"C'mon, we gotta take out them RPGs. Moving!" He slid across the car and Blackburn followed. They vaulted over a railing and took cover near another car closer to the building where the RPGs were in. "Right there, right there!" Blackburn fired on a pair of enemies that had just entered the parking lot.

Both Campo and Blackburn grabbed a grenade, pulled the pin and lobbed them at the second floor of the building. They exploded, taking out the RPGs. Rubble and body parts down from the floor and into the parking lot.

"He's down!"

"Got him!"

"Hold them just a little longer!" The marines kept firing and soon the few surviving insurgents fled from the parking lot.

_Crack! _A bullet smacked into the pavement. "Sniper's still up! Cease fire, cease fire. Get the hell inside, now!"

Back in the garage where Chaffin was, the team gathered around another door. The few marines that had arrived were taking up defensive positions. Corporal Holliday, or more commonly, Doc Holliday, was treating the wound.

He looked up at the worried team and nodded.

"We got him." He turned back to Chaffin. "Hey, buddy." He took out a medical kit and began applying a few items to the wound. "Can you feel this?" Campo sighed and kicked in the door and they began moving down another hallway.

They came to a stairway and began climbing it.

"Alright, up we go. Check your corners." There were a few flights of stairs and they quickened their pace.

"I hope Chaffin's gonna be okay." Matkovic murmured as they marched upwards, breaking their brief silence. Montes brushed passed Matkovic.

"He'll be fine; he's a tough son of a bitch." Just then, there was another deep rumble and the building trembled.

"Another tremor?"

"Maybe, let's keep moving."

"Anyone else a bit worried we're fighting on a fault line? We should be pulling back not advancing further into the city." Blackburn asked out loud, voicing his worry and annoyance with their area.

"Of course, but do we have a fuckin' choice?" Montes shook his head with Blackburn. At the top of the stairs they came to a door.

"Eyes open. It's all you." Campo shoved his shoulder into the door and they slowly made their way in. It was a large, dark room with light only coming from the partially boarded up windows to their left. They only walked for a moment before the sniper fired again.A billow of papers flew around them from a nearby stand. "Shit, too exposed. We got to go cover to cover. Don't stay visible in the windows."

Another bullet flew through one of the windows. 

The team got low and sprinted under the windows, trying to reach the safety of the next wall. A third round split one of the boards on the windows.As they escaped the kill zone they all flung themselves into cover, except Blackburn. A trio of tangos appeared across from them and Blackburn switched to full auto.

He gunned all three down, using the whole clip. Quickly he reloaded. The team got up and decided to move where the insurgents had come from.

"These guys weren't local." Montes pondered. "They weren't speaking Arabic. Al-Bashir is exporting all-star insurgent talent outta Iran into here now?"

"I don't know either." Campo panted. "Let's just get up on that roof." As they came to yet another door, hopefully leading to the roof, Cole came over the radio.

_"Misfit One-Three, this is Misfit Actual. That sniper's still up, be careful out there." _

"No shit, Captain Obvious…" Blackburn muttered. Matkovic opened the door and went out onto the roof. He was followed by Campo, Montes and then Blackburn.

"Clear."

"Clear." As they reached the end of the wall the sniper fired again. A nearby potted plant exploded. "Here we go."

"Shit, contact!"

"Anyone got eyes on?" asked Montes. There was a pause as Matkovic peeked around the corner with Campo. Blackburn held his breath as he watched with Montes. Nothing happened and the two stepped back.

"I can't see him."

"Dude, that's a fucking fifty!"

"Why the hell do some raggedy-ass tangos have a fifty caliber sniper rifle?" Blackburn changed his fire mode again. The thought of modernized weapons equipment being easily obtainable by their enemies- who had been using what was basically ancient weaponry against them, just pissed Blackburn off more than he already was.

"Stay low, stay low." Campo ordered, waving his hand. The team moved forward and took cover behind a large electronics box.

A bullet hit the leg of the water tower and ricocheted into the box. The bullet hit just above Montes' head. They felt the shock of the bullet and they all groaned, hunching their shoulders.

"It's the hotel- the hotel I think." Matkovic whispered, as if he was any louder the sniper would hear them.

"Let's go, cover to cover. We'll draw him out. Ready, moving!" Matkovic and Campo moved to the next large piece of cover, followed by Montes and Blackburn. Each time they started to relocate they would state 'moving' or 'going'.

The process was repeated several times before they came to the corner of the roof, and they had a large open area in that corner. They had no more cover accept for the roof's wall. Campo thought quickly and looked at the team. "Okay, get on the fucking deck." Everyone crouched down. "We get down to the edge, he'll stick his head out, and then we fuckin' shoot'im."

Campo was always good at putting the pieces of a situation together and making a plan to carry out- another one of his admirable traits.

"Roger." Matkovic went first, crawling along the short cover of the wall and its design. Campo slithered after him.

"Hug the wall." Montes and Blackburn were at the corner of the large electronics box they were at, watching their rear.

"You guys alright? When should we move?" Blackburn asked.

"Black, wait for us to get into position. And don't bunch up, keep moving." Campo and Matkovic were still crawling but were out of sight from Blackburn and Montes unless they peeked around the corner. All the while, the sniper was firing.

"Talk to me, you got eyes on?" Montes asked. Campo and Matkovic had reached their destination now and were able to get up to a very low crouch.

"I got it." Montes took a deep breath and got on the ground, crawling after the others.

"Black, now!" Blackburn got down and went after Montes.

"Shit!"

"Just keep going." Each enemy round that hit nearby would take a chunk of the wall away. After the agonizingly slowly minute of moving in prone, they had all reached a position. Montes and Campo were up against the wall, while Matkovic was to Campo's rear left crouched down. Blackburn was behind and between Campo and Montes, still on his belly.

Campo looked up quickly. "There's the sniper!" he ducked back down. "Okay, okay…across the street, fifty meters, midway up. He's dug into a spider hole."

"I got AT." Matkovic was in charge of carrying the team's rocket launcher, which was sometimes a shared duty with Blackburn despite Blackburn being their designated marksman.

"Give it to Black. Shit, cover's getting ropey." Campo motioned to said marine with his thumb. Matkovic pulled the tube off his back and rolled it over to Blackburn.

"Why me?"

"You're the best shot!" Matkovic smiled at him with a nod.

"You see that weapon glint, you waste him." Campo said to Blackburn.

"Make it count brother!" Matkovic encouraged. Blackburn smiled at first and cheekily flipped Matkovic off, making him shake his head with a laugh. Campo glared at the pair.

"I'll cover you, and you hit him. Clear your back blast." Blackburn crawled a few inches back, looking over his shoulder. "Standby: three, two, one…_suppressing_!" Campo screamed as the team stood up at the same time, their weapons blazing away at the hotel where the sniper dwelled.

Blackburn didn't even have to aim. He fired the launcher and the rocket hit the spider hole. There was an eruption of flame, concrete and dust. The hotel's sign, only a few meters up from the spider hole sparked and flicked before falling off half of its supports and hinges, hanging sideways up. When the smoke cleared a gaping hole crusted with fires was in the hotel.

Everyone looked at the glorious sight. Blackburn gave a short hoot and gave the AT4 back to Matkovic who patted his shoulder.

"Good effect on target!" Montes yelled in triumph.

"We good?"

"We're good." Campo reloaded and turned to the others. "Let's go find this patrol."

"Oh yeah, nearly forgot about them." Campo shook his head at Blackburn. "Oh come on Steve, I deserve to have a little fun every once in a while." But before they could move their headsets were filled with chatter again.

_"Misfit One-Three, this is Doc Holliday. We got your man patched up down here, ready to move him back to the staging area for evac. Can you provide cover from up there?" _

"Sure thing, Doc Holliday…which direction, over?"

_"North side." _

"Good thing he made the call. That explosion's gonna attract a log of pissed of insurgents. Not to mention the ones who survived the firefight are probably coming back." Blackburn said to Matkovic and Montes, who nodded in agreement.

The team moved to the corner behind them that was looking over the street where they had left the alley for the garage and parking lot. Shouldering his M4, Blackburn pulled his Mk.11 sniper rifle into his hands and aimed down the scope, checking the rooftops and alleyways.

"Misfit One-Three, in position. Looks pretty clear…"

_"Roger that, we are moving, over!" _

"Keep your eyes peeled for hostiles; our guys are pretty exposed down there. Watch your sectors." Blackburn spotted Doc Holliday carrying Chaffin across his shoulders, accompanied by the two men he brought with him.

Montes was setting up the bi-pod on the wall for his M240 and checking his scope when he spotted the enemy.

"I see enemy movement, street level!"

_"In cover, take them out, One-Three!" _Holliday yelled over the comms. Blackburn got one of the insurgents in his crosshairs and fired. The bullet flew into the enemy's head. The others opened fire on the remaining enemies who were taking cover by a destroyed car.

"On the balconies, left side!" Matkovic and Blackburn turned his attention to the new tangos that had appeared. "Tangos on the roof, straight ahead!" Blackburn sniped the ones on the roof while Matkovic suppressed the balcony gunners.

The street was clear.

_"Okay, moving." _Doc Holliday and his two escorts moved to the destroyed cars where their previous attackers had taken cover.

"More guys coming. Check the street level and rooftops." More gunfire pierced their air but the second enemy group was quickly dispatched.

_"I think we're clear, Misfit One-Three. We are moving, over." _

"We got your six, you are clear."

As Montes started fixing the bi-pod on his LMG he looked back down.

"Oh you gotta be kidding me!" a third batch of hostiles stormed from the alleyway that the team had used to enter their area. Montes and Blackburn expended the last of their clips on the enemies and once more, the PLR was dealt with.

"_Misfit One-Three, this is Doc Holliday. Many thanks, we're through. We'll take care of your buddy- out." _Blackburn and the others watched as they went through the alley towards the staging area.

Chaffin was safe, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Blackburn slung his sniper rifle over his shoulder and grabbed his M4. Montes and Campo started walking back across the roof but Matkovic grabbed Blackburn's shoulder.

"They're moving in on us now." Everyone looked back down at the street to see a horde of PLR charging their building.

"Campo, I don't fancy our chances. I count over twenty and still rising." Blackburn said.

"Can we get the fuck off this rooftop now, please?" Montes yelled. Campo nodded.

"Roger. We can't go back down- too messy…need to finder another way down."

"We can try to jump onto the building next to us, the one where those RPGs we took out were." Blackburn suggested.

"Let's go for it." The team jogged back across the roof to the corner. Blackburn went to leap to the next building but Campo grabbed him.

"We'll never make it over." Montes panted.

He crouched down with his back turned to the others. He raised his LMG, waiting for the PLR to get onto the roof. Blackburn knelt next to him and readied his rifle. Matkovic was speaking quietly to himself, looking around quietly.

"We can use this as a bridge." Everyone looked at him as he nodded to a long plank of wood leaning against the wall of the concrete base that surrounded the rooftop staircase.

"Do it!" Campo and Matkovic put down their weapons and picked up the heavy board. They slowly made their way over with the board to the edge of the roof.

"Fuckin' boy scout…"

"That boy scout is saving our asses, Montes." Blackburn said, watching the other two drop the board across the gap. They retrieved their weapons just as they could hear banging and yelling from inside the building.

Matkovic tested the board and then made his way across.

"Go, go." Camp urged. Matkovic got off and Campo followed. Blackburn went after him and crouched to cover Montes. "We'll meet you down there."

"Montes I got you covered, c'mon!" Montes made his way across quickly. "Get rid of the board, we don't want them following us." Montes hooked his foot under the board and kicked it off the edge. It fell into the short alley below them with a crash and a cat screeched.

The pair made their way down some stairs and then vaulted onto a lower rooftop. From there they jumped to another rooftop and rolled when they landed. Another vault and finally the pair crawled under a railing and joined Matkovic and Campo on the street.

The squad took cover in that corner of the street and caught their breath. "I think I messed up on that roll…" Blackburn groaned, stretched his aching back.

"I might have twisted my ankle." Montes added.

"Ah c'mon guys, at least we ain't dead." Matkovic said with a shrug.

_"Misfit One-Three, this is Misfit Actual. You want to get moving to the site, ASAP, over." _Cole said over the radio.

He sounded mildly annoyed, as if he was angry that they had been held up for so long. If Blackburn was in his boots, he would have been thankful that the team made it off the roof in one piece.

"Temporary setback, break; we are Oscar-Mike to target location, over." Cole didn't respond to Campo so the team set off through a small market. The stands were abandoned, but all of the goods and items were still left in place. "We're pushing through. Hope they're okay…"

"So, what happens if the PLR take over?" Matkovic asked. "Country run by terrorists ain't good…" This kicked off another one of Montes' rants.

"Bro, America was founded by terrorists, for terrorists. What do you think the fucking Revolutionary War was? History is determined by the motherfucking victor."

Blackburn and Matkovic both rolled their eyes and groaned at Montes. Montes had always been like this, always looking for a way to point on the flaws of their own country. Although the others found his preaching's humorous, it got tiresome after a while.

Campo was the only one who could endure it and usually was still able to laugh at Montes.

"How did you even get into the Marines?" he asked Montes.

"You know what Campo? I often ask myself the same goddamn question." The team had stopped in front of a large wooden door. Montes kicked it open and it revealed a long, dark hallway, dimly let by a few lights. The floor was cluttered with crates and other large items.

They came to the corner and came under fire. "We've got contacts!"

"Shit, contact!" they team took cover and returned fire. Montes was able to mow most of them down with half of his clip and Campo finished them off with a grenade. They made sure they were clear before turning to a door with a light hanging over it.

"That should take us where we need to go." Blackburn said, taking point. He stopped when he felt his boot bumped against something on the floor. They all stopped and looked at the dead marines, sprawled on the floor.

"Is that the patrol?" Matkovic asked quietly.

"That's two of'em…" Montes continued to the door while Campo collected their dog tags.

"Just stay focused." He said to the others. Montes kicked the door open and the team moved to a damaged HUMVEE that was sitting with its rear turned towards a van. The street had a few bomb craters.

Campo got behind the HUMVEE while Matkovic took cover at the van. Montes went to the HUMVEE while Blackburn screened their surroundings. Civilians were in the windows and rooftops. A group was watching intently from an overpass to the front. Another group was on the street level, closer than Blackburn wished.

Sirens and yelling filled the air, like there was a riot going on.

"Oh shit." Montes went over to the front passenger door of the HUMVEE and tried to open it. He ended up taking the entire door off and falling down. But a marine was sitting there, dazed and wounded. Blackburn went over to look into the HUMVEE as Montes checked over the marine. "Shit, we got wounded and KIA in here."

"I got it. Misfit Actual this is One-Three. I need CASEVAC ASAP, how copy?"

_"One-Three, I can finally oblige. Hang tight Misfit, out." _Blackburn looked over at Matkovic, who was on his hands and knees, looking at the underside of the van.

"Whatcha got Chris?"

Man, this layout doesn't look right at all." He murmured. Matkovic got onto his stomach and crawled slightly under the van, his kit straining against him. "Yeah, I found something. This is totally not good." He groaned. "Secondaries under here!"

"Secondary!"

"Secondary, cop that!" Montes had crouched and raised his LMG, guarding the wounded marine. "Aw fuck boys we are attracting a lotta fuckin' attention!"

Campo backed up against the van, keeping his weapon raised.

"What's the problem? Can't you cut the wire?"

"I can't cut anything till' this wire's traced!" Matkovic was on his back now, his hands meddling with something.

"Blackburn you're nominated follow the wire!"

"Roger that!" Blackburn looked down between his feet and spotted the red wire. He followed it down a few steps to door that he kicked open. It led into a Laundromat.

"_Blackburn did you get that? Follow that goddamn wire." _said Campo. Blackburn went down some stairs and looked to his left and right. There was a closed door on either side.

_I don't wanna risk breaching alone. There's gotta be another way…_

Blackburn noticed the wire led into a vent. He went prone and crawled into the vent, pulling himself along with one hand and holding his rifle with the other. The vent bumped a little as some rats scurried past Blackburn's face as he came to T section. The wire led to the left and Blackburn slithered along.

The vents began shaking and Blackburn braced himself. After a few moments the shaking and rumbling ceased. _"You okay in there?"_

"Yeah, I'm alright."

"_Just another goddamn tremor; nothing to worry about. One-Four's here to reinforce. Just get that wire cut. " _

Blackburn kept crawling. _Oh yeah, nothing to worry about. It's just a sign of a possible tremor. No trouble, I'm only stuck in a fucking vent. Thanks a lot Steve! _Blackburn came to a larger part of the ventilation system and found that the wire went through a hole.

Pushing his legs forward, Blackburn jumped down into the room. He landed low on his feet, his fingers brushing against the floor. Blackburn got to his feet and followed the wire through a few chain-linked fence storage areas.

He came to a desk wire the wire ended. A few electronics were on the desk and some tools. A white box with two wires in it was the most prominent one. Blackburn set his rifle down and his handed wavered between the two wires.

He chose to pull the one on the right, which started a beeping noise.

Blackburn heard something behind him and looked up. A light flickered, casting a shadow on the wall in front of him. The man screamed as Blackburn turned around and punched him across the face.

Blackburn reeled from the hit. His attacker pulled him back up to him again, but Blackburn blocked his punch, hit him in the side and face before kicking him in the back of his knee. The insurgent dropped down to his knees. Blackburn picked him up by his vest and raised his fist. But just as he was about to bring it down the insurgent grabbed his arm and responded with an uppercut.

He then latched onto Blackburn's vest and head-butted him; the move backfired. His forehead collided with Blackburn's helmet, stunning him for a second. Blackburn heaved the insurgent against the chain-link fence which was pressed up against the concrete wall.

Feeling the rage and adrenaline surge through him, Blackburn stood the insurgent back up. He grabbed his head and smashed it three times against a thick wooden post, each time the insurgent cried out in pain. Stepping back, Blackburn him across the face with his right, followed by his left and Blackburn hit him in the gut with his right again.

Finally, Blackburn took his head and brought it down on his knee. There was a sickening crunch of bone and the insurgent slumped over onto the ground.

The white box had been beeping faster and faster and Blackburn whipped around, tugging the other wire from it. The beeping stopped.

Blackburn turned around and panted, holding his aching cheek. He sat against the table and stared at his defeated opponent. It seemed like he stared into those lifeless eyes forever before he heard gunfire above.

Campo came over the comms just as Blackburn snatched up his rifle. _"Black, we're taking heavy small arms fire. Get up here now!" _

"Copy that, I'm on my way." Breaking into a run, Blackburn ran down the hallway, jumping over same fallen shelves. He followed the stairs and was led back into the Laundromat. He came up to the few steps at the door where he had entered to see multiple squads of marines moving towards the overpass.

A few were cut down by enemy fire and the rest got into cover among the cars that clogged the highway. Blackburn ran over to the van where the squad had been before.

"Tangos by the walkway, left side!"

"Incoming!" a rocket smashed into the road in front of them, sending dust and chunks of pavement into the air.

Blackburn took cover next to the others and started returning fire.

"_Misfit One –Three, this is Hornet Five-Zero. I got your position, I got your targets, we're inbound hot." _

"Waste those guys!" somebody cheered as they waited for the Little Bird chopper to arrive.

"Roger, we're engaging in the vicinity of two-two-four-eight-six grid." Campo turned to Montes and Blackburn. "Black, get up on the wall and man the LMG."

"Give us some cover." Blackburn and Montes ran towards the stairs on the sidewalk that led to the overpass. The other marines continued to press their fire into the increasing amount of PLR.

On the overpass, Blackburn killed two insurgents that had taken cover up there. Montes then set up his LMG on its bi-pod.

"M249, right there." He said to Blackburn. Blackburn picked up the LMG and set up his bi-pod. "I'll take the right, you take the left."

"Got it." The pair of machine gunners opened fire. Tangos were forced to take cover and slow their advance. Those who didn't make in time were cut down by the suppressive fire. Rockets flew pasted and into buildings, raining concrete down onto the road.

"Jesus Christ, look at all of'em! Where's CASEVAC?" Matkovic joined them as well as Campo.

"_Misfit One-Three, this is Falcon. We are in orbit above your location, break. Be advised, you've got a large number of individuals moving toward your position." _

"Enemy vehicle coming from the north!"

"Montes, focus fire!" Blackburn and Montes trained down their sights at the technical, peppering it with short controlled bursts. "Driver's down!"

"Fifty cal's still good to go!"

"_Misfit One-Three, this is Misfit Actual. We're sealing off all southbound traffic- but enemy fighters have been reported closing on your location. Over." _The Little Bird arrived and the mounted chainguns roared to life, destroying the technicals and killing off the remaining enemies on the highway.

"They're falling back, they're falling back!" Campo announced. Montes reloaded while Blackburn discarded the LMG, checking his own rifle.

"_Misfit One-Three this is Hornet Five-Zero. We're seeing a lot of movement converging on your position from the east."_

"Oh fuck they're trying to flank us!" Matkovic yelled as the team ran for the stairs.

"Come on, come on they're gonna overrun us!" the team fell back a bit. "Let's move, move, move! There, that enemy vehicle wreck!" the squad took cover and opened up on the new batch of advancing hostiles from the eastern road. Blackburn noticed an empty technical sitting where the marines were now holing up. There was a mounted machine gun in the back.

_Technicals are always in stock…_

Campo must have read as his mind because he pointed at the technical while looking at Blackburn. "Blackburn, up on that weapon. We need suppressive fire on that street now!"

"I'm on it!" Blackburn jumped into the back of the struck, readied the big gun and began firing in bursts at the enemy. He gunned down groups of three or four insurgents at a time, destroying cars and keeping them from getting closer to their position.

_"Misfit One-Three, this is Misfit Actual. Hang tight, chopper's circling back for you." _

The Little Bird came back and started to add in on the storm of bullets that were hitting the insurgents. The insurgents' numbers had dwindled and were falling back. But before anyone could say anything, the ground shook violently.

"Oh fuck!"

"_Earthquake_!" Campo hollered.

"Come on, let's fucking go!" Blackburn watched in horror as the street in front of him cracked and rose up. Pavement and cars were thrown about as well as people. He was thrown from the back of the technical as the ripple hit the technical.

Blackburn was on his stomach, his arms in front of him. He looked up as he heard an even louder rumble. A building groaned and shook as it toppled over. Blackburn raised his hand, watching helplessly as the building crushed the Little Bird and connected with the pavement.

Only darkness followed.


	2. Chapter 2

****Alright cool, second story. I'm writing on this one because I forgot to write the important info on the first chapter (gawddammit). This story is going to be a novelization of the Battlefield 3 Single Player, and also a continuation of it. The single player missions and events will be in the order they were actually supposed to be in, rather than have that confusing order where 'Comrades' came in. I'm also adding the cooperative missions in as well, as they somewhat go along with the single player. A few things like callsigns, weaponry and the like have been changed to fit this story and I hope I don't piss any fans of the game off through my writings. I hope you enjoy.

Also, this story will be kinda dramatic as stated in the genre and such, but there's also gonna be a bit of romance, definitely action (which should actually be a category) and a bunch of other stuff.

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><p><strong>Chapter Two: Uprising <strong>

SSgt. Henry Blackburn – 1st Recon Marines

March 15, 2014. 2036 Zulu Time

Al Sulaymaniyah, Iraq

"On the other hand, I have a better idea." Blackburn opened his eyes, surprised to be alive. He tried to move his legs but he couldn't. The pain now was ten times worse than the ache had felt during the team's escape from the rooftop.

His vision was blurry, almost red.

But when it cleared, Blackburn saw three people. An injured marine was on the ground and another man- not from the Middle East, was kneeling over him. A PLR insurgent stood nearby, watching.

The one near the marine had short, dark blondish hair. He wore civilian attire. "I'll let you choose." The man said to the marine. His voice had an accent. This man wasn't an American; was he European? Blackburn's first thought was the man was Russian. If he was Russian, what the hell was he doing here?

"Choose?" the wounded marine panted. "Choose what?" Blackburn struggled to keep his eyes open.

"Oh come on," the man with the accent said, almost playfully. "What is it?" he raised a .44 magnum, pointing at the marine. "Live, or die?" he asked. The marine didn't answer. "Live or die, mister." When the marine continued to remain silent, the supposed Russian said something to the PLR soldier who shouldered his weapon and picked the marine up by his arms.

The marine groaned in pain as the insurgent stood him up. Blackburn watched in horror. The captured marine's moans changed into screams of fear mixed with agony as he was dragged him away with the other man.

Blackburn, feeling a mix of emotions rising in him, closed his eyes. The pain was unimaginable for him as well. Part of him wanted to just say there, succumb. No more pain.

_No. I have to get back home, back to Charlene. I gotta find Campo…Montes…Matkovic…_ Blackburn opened his eyes. He pushed a piece of concrete off his chest, and shoved two more away from him.

A voice came over his headset, making Blackburn freeze for a moment.

_"All units this net; be advised, a catastrophic earthquake even in Iran is affecting all operational capability in the Iran-Iraq region. This net will be delivering updates as they become available." _

Blackburn finished freeing himself stood up on the rubble. A deep crevice he was in stretched before him. Sitting on top of a spot in front of him was a burning chopper. There was no one else in sight.

_Okay, I gotta retrace my steps to Bazarr…_

Somewhat fired a machine gun, making Blackburn crouch down and unsheathe his knife. He ducked into the shadows, watching insurgents jumped across the gap. They had flashlights mounted on their rifle barrels.

Blackburn took a few deep breaths, mustering his courage. He moved forward in a crouch, moving under the chopper. He waited another moment, allowing more insurgents to jump over the crevice.

"The PLR is reaching out with catastrophe help to all American soldiers." A Middle Eastern voice said through a loud speaker.

_Don't listen to that. Don't listen to that. Don't listen to that. _

Blackburn didn't know if he was mentally talking himself or praying that any other marines in the area didn't listen to the PLR. He took some comfort that, just like him, there were other marines quietly making their through the ruins.

He kept moving in the shadows created by the overhang of pavement above him, hugging the wall. There was rubble everywhere. Ripped clothes fluttered in the breeze and only a few lights were left. Sirens echoed throughout the night and fires burned in a few spots. "Come out in the open. Hiding will be seen as an act of aggression."

_It's a goddamn trap. Either way they'll just gun us down. _

Blackburn paused, letting an insurgent's flashlight drift away from his path before moving forward. The crevice was getting higher and higher, and Blackburn was getting nervous. He was losing cover.

Blackburn jumped as a body slumped out of a HUMVEE that was halfway buried beside him. He checked the dead marine, taking his dog tags. The radio in the HUMVEE was half-destroyed but a familiar voice could be heard.

_"All Misfit victors, this is Misfit Actual. Regroup at extraction point 'Lima'; we are pulling out, over." _

Cole. At least somebody he knew had made it. Blackburn hoped that the rest of his team was alright. If they were dead or worse, captured…

Blackburn didn't want to think about it. He looked to his left to see PLR insurgents gathering. If he stayed here he was he was going to be find. A pipe was his escape. So Blackburn went prone and crawled into it.

Blackburn was able to get a look at his arms. They were smothered with dirt, covered with scratches, some of them deep. His watch on his left wrist was also smashed. As he crawled along Blackburn tried to keep as quiet as he could. He could see the boots of his enemies as they walked over the pipe, unaware of the marine below.

Something rustled in front of him. Blackburn stopped as a rat popped out of a small pipe to his left. It sat back, squeaking and rubbing its nose.

"Shh…" Blackburn said to it, raising a finger to his lips with a smile. But the rat bit his finger through his glove as he lowered it back down. Blackburn suppressed a short groan and lightly pushed the rat way. The rat persisted and bit his hand again. Another smack didn't make it go away. It started tugging on his glove.

He knew that this thing was making a lot of noise. If an insurgent decided to look down he was screwed. Blackburn raised his knife, giving the rat one more smack before driving the cold steel into its tiny neck. The rat gave one last pitiful squeak as it died.

Blackburn withdrew his knife tugged the dead rat over to the side by its tail. He waited a moment and started moving again when he figured no one had noticed.

_So far so good; almost got killed by a rat…that'll be a nice story…_

Continuing to ignore the PLR loudspeaker, Blackburn exited the pipe and slunk over to a door. He remembered the door; it led to the hallway the team had gone through after they had gotten off the roof where they had dealt with the sniper.

Blackburn carefully opened the door and went inside, closing it behind him. He looked ahead to see a pair of guards at the end of the hallway, chatting to each other. Blackburn only knew snippets of their language, but he could understand that they were looking for someone.

His hope rose for a second. Maybe it was his team.

Another insurgent was looking over his weapon, his back turned to Blackburn. Blackburn let his soldiering taking over and he sneaked up behind the tango and drove his knife into his neck. He let it sink in for a moment, before dropping the body and sheathing his knife. He quickly grabbed the AKS-74u carbine and gunned the two guards down as they spotted him.

Blackburn checked over the weapon. It had a Kobra holographic optic, as well as a flashlight. He had never used enemy weaponry before, but Blackburn was a fast learner. He reloaded the carbine before gathering up some ammunition for.

He proceeded down the hallway to the right where he had come earlier that day. Another hostile appeared that Blackburn quickly shot. Three more were running down the hallway and Blackburn used up the rest of his clip on them.

_These guys have no idea what they're doing. _Blackburn couldn't see any form of an officer among the bodies. The PLR soldiers whom he had seen after waking up looked like they were somewhat trained or had some combat experience. These men didn't sport any form of tactical prowess at all. Maybe that was the organization of the PLR…measly guerrilla fighters to ex-military men.

Blackburn had so many questions. He found himself wanting to know more about the PLR, just because of the man he saw when he had woken up. Was he the leader of the PLR? What role was he playing? Who?

Blackburn shook his head. This was no time to think about questions that he would probably never get answers for.

Passing a large fire, Blackburn went back onto the street. The door that had been there before had been blown away. He stopped and crouched as he heard a very loud propeller noise. The carved up street ahead of him was bathed in light, exposing three insurgents on the move.

He looked up, and Blackburn realized it was a V-22 Osprey. The Osprey hovered low above the street, the searchlight scanning the area. One of the insurgents fired a few rounds up at the helicopter. Blackburn jumped up and took each tango with three rounds.

Blackburn looked back up with the hope that the Osprey had spotted him. But the chopper didn't and turned away. "Son of a bitch…"

Blackburn jogged ahead, resupplying his ammunition off the dead bodies. He came to the area where Chaffin had received his wound- or above it. Blackburn couldn't tell if the parking lot had sunk lower than the street level or if the spot he stood on had risen above the parking lot. It didn't matter. Rubble and fire was everywhere.

Multiple shadowy figures were lurking about between the cars in the parking lot, so Blackburn decided to stay up high where he could the drop on them. He moved along the line of debris and came to a car at the edge.

He heard voices below. Blackburn peeked over to see two PLR soldiers talking to each other. Blackburn looked at the car. It was on the edge and could easily be pushed over on top of the two enemies.

Blackburn raised one of his legs and pressed his boot against the side of the car. With a quiet groan he put his weight into his leg and the car loosened from its spot and dropped down on the target.

There were shouts from the parking lot and the garage. Blackburn got down before anyone could see him. His heart pounded against his chest as he listened to the footsteps and voices gathering underneath him.

He had made sure to collect a frag grenade from his enemies. Blackburn pulled the pin and rolled it over the edge. A few frenzied screams came, followed by an explosion.

Blackburn jumped down and looked at the mess. The two insurgents who were crushed by the car couldn't be seen, and the others had been ripped up by the shrapnel from the grenade.

One had survived and was trying to crawl away. Blackburn went over to the wounded enemy and kicked him in the side, causing him to roll over. He wanted to say something, tell this man he didn't even know how much he hated him.

Instead, Blackburn fired a single round into him and ventured into the garage.

It was brightly lit and Blackburn went to open one of the closed garage doors that would put him back on track. The ground rumbled underneath him and Blackburn got ready for another earthquake. But the after-shock faded away, causing some glass to fall and the garage doors leading to the parking lot to come loose and slam shut.

Blackburn, momentarily, felt trapped. He looked between the double sets of red doors, as if some greater power doomed him to be trapped in there. He recovered and almost laughed at himself.

"Don't shame yourself by hiding!" a voice yelled. Blackburn readied his weapon, heading over to the garage door. A few voices shouted and the garage door was opened up by an insurgent. Blackburn kicked him back and gunned him down, then quickly rolled behind cover as three more opened fire on him.

They stopped and a grenade was tossed in. Blackburn swore and whipped the grenade back out of the garage. It exploded, taking down all three insurgents. Blackburn reloaded and headed back out.

The road he was now on was worse than the previous one. Giant piles of rubble were all around him. One blocked his path to get back to the staging area. Thankfully, an open bus was caught in the wreckage. Blackburn went into the bus slowly and made his way through it.

He stopped halfway as a rocket went off and slammed into the bus. Blackburn was thrown to the back of the bus, landing on his side. Blackburn aimed out the window and ducked back down as another trio of PLR insurgents shot at him.

After popping up and firing a few times, Blackburn was able to finish them off and moved out of the bus. Ahead, two more tangos appeared but the tearing of concrete caught their attention. The building they stood next to broke apart and collapsed on them.

It was fitting to Blackburn, seeing how so many of his fellow marines were crushed in the earthquake. Before the storm of dust could reach him, Blackburn recognized the gate from earlier and went into the lit alley.

A door opened and an enemy kicked a box out of the way. He was followed by another but both were killed by Blackburn. He went into the door and jumped down the broken staircase. Now Blackburn was back in the school.

He went to the door where they entered from and kicked it open. Blackburn turned and started going down the hallway. At the other end, someone appeared in the doorway.

"Freeze, motherfucker- hands!" the voice was familiar.

"Montes!" Blackburn said, holding out his arms. Montes laughed.

"Holy shit; Blackburn, am I glad to see you." He lowered his LMG and waved Blackburn over. Blackburn went over and they bumped their fists together.

"You alright man?" Montes nodded. He was covered in grime but otherwise looked okay. "What's the situation?"

"In about half an hour this place is gonna be every fuckin' man for himself. C'mon, let's get the fuck outta here." The reunited marines ran down the alley until they came to the door. "Misfit, this is Misfit One-Three. I think we're nearly back at the staging area; I dunno, this place looks _real _different without any freaking buildings." Blackburn entered the garage with the counter with Montes closing the door behind him. Cole came over the radio a moment later.

_"Do what you have to do; Ospreys are leaving in five mikes." _

"Hey, I'm glad you made it Dave." Blackburn said. Montes smiled and patted his friend's shoulder.

"You too brother." He then looked guilty. "I tried lookin' for you, I did. But the PLR…"

"S'alright man, don't worry about it. Let's just get the hell outta here." Montes nodded in agreement. Outside, glass shattered from a minor after-shock. "I especially don't want to be here if there's another earthquake."

"No kidding. I got the door, come on." Montes went to the garage door, knelt down and lifted it up enough so Blackburn could crouch under it. Once he was on the other side Blackburn held it for Montes who grabbed his LMG and got out. The door then dropped down.

They started moving again, and Blackburn breathed a sigh of relief as he recognized the alley to the staging area. "Milnet was saying there's riots all over the fucking city, and get this- a coup in Iran."

"No shit?"

"…sponsored by your friendly neighborhood PLR…"

"You know what that means." Blackburn muttered.

"Invasion…look!" the two came over a pile of rubble to the staging area which was now a mess of cars on the highway which was mostly covered with even larger piles of rubble. Near them, two HUMVEEs were set up around a burning red flare. A squad of marines was nearby, and one was manning the HUMVEE.

Two familiar faces appeared at the red flare.

"Is that who I think it is!" Campo and Matkovic waved to Montes and Blackburn as they jogged up.

"Good to see you, but we got bad times!" bullets whizzed all around them. "Blackburn, up on that weapon!" Blackburn dropped the AKS and scrambled into the HUMVEE and started firing the fifty caliber machine gun at anything that moved. There weren't that many PLR attacking at one time, making it easy to pick off. But more kept appearing out of the mist of dust that was rolling towards them.

It was being created by the Osprey as it slowly hovered in.

"_We're standing by for extract, coming in on your left." _The pilot said over the comms.

"Shit, there's our ride!" Montes said as he reloaded.

"Running low on ammo!" Blackburn shouted, but he didn't let up on the trigger. The searchlight moved over their position, blinding them for a moment.

"RPG, my twelve!" the rocket shot passed the Osprey as it made a lazy dodge.

"_Relocating, too hot in target LZ." _

"Hurry the fuck up or you're gonna have no one to extract!" Blackburn turned the turret to fire on the larger group of PLR that had flanked them. They took cover behind a low wall that was chewed up by the fifty caliber machine gun.

"RPG!" someone shouted. The rocket hit Blackburn's HUMVEE. Blackburn dropped to his knees from the wreck and looked up to see the Osprey had landed and everyone was boarding it.

"Okay. Let's go, let's go!" Campo waved for him to get up as he bolted into the Osprey. Blackburn ran for the Osprey, dodging another rocket as it destroyed a car near his path. "Come on!"

Blackburn climbed up and Montes grabbed his hand, pulling him into the Osprey.

"I gotcha buddy." He said with a nod. Blackburn smiled and the pair turned to face the city. A rocket soared towards them but it hit the stone column behind the Osprey. The column crumbled down, blocking the PLR off. The Osprey took off and slowly flew away from the city.


	3. Chapter 3

****Been a long time since a submitted anything on this site- and to this specific story. I've worked on the next few chapters for it so I'll be uploading them all tonight. Well, no one's really taken a look at this story yet but I still like this story. My other story, which has gotten much more review (positive reviews so far besides urging for length) is what I want to work in but I've hit kind of a bump with it. I'll think of something though.

****Anyways, I hope this chapter which has been taken from the Co-op Campaign and integrated into the single player stories.

And to any of the folks who've read my Halo Reach story who happen to stumble on this, I'll be trying to devote some time to that story because we're almost finished with that phase of Grey's life. I say we, but I'm the one writing it.

...

Okay, we all write it a little bit. I thrive from your positive feedback and your enjoyment of the stories.

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><p><strong>Chapter Three: Operation Exodus <strong>

Cpl. Warren Holliday – 1st Recon Marines

March 16, 2014. 1300 Zulu Time

Al Sulaymaniyah, Iraq

Doc Holliday walked along the street. He had to admit, the engineers had worked pretty fast. A lot of rubble was removed from the street and the overpass where Misfit One-Three and One-Four had been hit by the earthquake was actually visible. Holliday was surprised it was still standing.

Holliday sat down in the shade, taking off his helmet and scratching his blonde hair. His brown eyes looked at the scene a few meters down the road from the overpass. They had recovered dozens upon dozens of marines from the rubble. Most were in pretty bade shape.

Operation Exodus was simple; recovered every marine possible that was unaccounted for after the earthquake and pull out of the city. It was difficult since they didn't have any major support.

The only support Holliday could see was six HUMVEEs and a nice arsenal of recovered weapons.

Holliday felt sad and guilty for some reason, like he should be one of the men who were wounded. He hated his mindset for combat; sure, he would be the first one to pick up a rifle, but he was always scared despite the confidence that always came with his voice. He was always scared, always afraid to do his job as a medic, afraid that something would happen.

Maybe it was because he was only twenty-three had didn't have as much combat experience as guys like in Misfit. He hoped that those guys were okay too. Holliday knew he had to, but didn't want to have to tell them that Chaffin had died on their way out of the city. During the attack on the staging area, another bullet had hit him and as they retreated in an LAV he had bled to death.

Holliday felt like a failure. He had let Chaffin's team down- let Chaffin down.

He explained all of this to the new member of his squad who had joined them yesterday. The marine wasn't exactly 'new'. He had been a marine far longer than Holliday and was three years older than him.

Corporal Patrick Grant was gruff, rough and tough in appearance, mentality and even in his voice. He had dark skin, but lighter than Captain Cole's, whom Holliday briefly met the day before. To complete his appearance Grant had short black hair and vivid green eyes that always seemed to pierce Holliday.

"Why do you always talk to me about this shit?" Grant growled to Holliday when he went to Holliday for some extra water. "Grow a pair would ya?" with that, Grant started to walk off but Captain Brady came over the comms.

_"Priority transmission; we're evacuating this base. Scouts have reported large numbers of enemies advancing towards our position. We're expecting immediate contacts. Our defensive line is weakened but we need to hold the perimeter until the evac choppers are ready to leave."_

Holliday put a hand to his headset.

"Sir, who are we gonna put on defense? All of the troops are falling back to help with the loading- we don't have a full squad up here, it's just me and Grant."

_"You two are gonna have to hold'em off. I'll keep you posted; good luck gentlemen- out."_

"Son of a bitch…" Grant growled. "C'mon Doc, let's take up position on that overpass."

"I don't have a weapon with me." Holliday and Grant started jogging to the overpass. Grant turned and tossed Holliday an M16 with a scope and grenade launcher attached, followed by a bandolier of ammunition clips and grenade rounds.

"I'll grab an M249 and a Javelin." Grant started moving around the cache of weapons that had been set up nearby. "Here, take this M39 too. It's got a scope and we can pick off targets at a distance. I'll plant a couple of AT mines and claymores just in case."

Holliday obeyed Grant and got up on the overpass and went prone, aiming with the assault rifle. Grant came up a few minutes later, setting up his LMG and putting the Javelin nearby.

It was quiet as they aimed down at the road. The bodies and wreckage from the day before were mostly cleared away, but a few bloated corpses remained. Holliday knew they were enemies but he couldn't help but grimace and feel sorry for the unburied dead. "What's that?"

Holliday picked up the M39 and looked through the scope.

"Contact north, lone enemy scout. Shit…he just ducked out of sight." They called Captain Brady, informing him of their sighting.

_"We're expecting an attack any minute. If you're not already, get up on that walk bridge and scout the north, over."_

"Already set up defenses and awaiting the attack sir." Grant said.

_"And keep an eye on the gun trucks, if we lose them they'll push through easily, over." _

A moment later, a mortar shell landed on the street. Holliday and Grant both swore and ducked down, letting dust and sand rain down on them. Grant looked back up.

"Eyes on multiple targets, light'em up!" he began firing short bursts from his LMG. More mortars fired and landed closer and closer to the overpass. "Mortar pop; find cover!" they both rolled in behind some sandbags as shells landed right in front of them. Holliday could hear the steaming hot shrapnel whizz through the air and embed themselves in the sandbags. "C'mon Holliday- weapon's free pour it on'em!"

Holliday got back up with Grant and they both began firing. The enemy force wasn't large and moving in groups. They would move one man at a time, sprinting from cover to cover. Holiday began to fire grenades from the launcher on his rifle at cars. The cars would explode and the fiery explosion would take down several enemies as they waited their turn to move.

Behind them, the HUMVEEs gunners were firing the heavy machine guns, raking down the advancing PLR. Holliday and Grant burned through their ammunition, and Grant would send Holliday running back and forth between the cache and their position on the overpass on ammo runs.

After about ten minutes of holding the enemy back, a large object appeared on the road.

"We've got an armored vehicle moving up on the left!" Holliday yelled. Grant picked up the Javelin and locked onto it in the small screen. The rocket flew upwards and forwards before slamming straight down on top of the enemy APC.

With the destruction of the APC, the PLR in front of the duo fell back. Holliday and Grant stood up, regaining their composure. "Holy shit…" Holliday panted. "Did we beat them?"

"No, the PLR wouldn't give up that easily. You saw how they fought yesterday." Grant shook his head. "This is going to get a lot worse. Better reload…" Holliday did so and went back as just another wave began attacking them.

Holliday and Grant continued to repel them. The second wave was smaller than the first and was dealt with in a few minutes. "Holliday, get us some more ammo up here."

"Roger." Holliday hurried down the stairs and grabbed an armful of clips. As he began moving back to the stairs, an RPG was fired and the rocket knocked Holliday over.

"Contact, west side!" groggily, Holliday tried to get up. Grant ran down the stairs, firing his pistol. He grabbed Holliday's vest and dragged him back into cover as Holliday fired his own sidearm and the enemies that were pouring out from the alley near the overpass. "Can you stand? Can you fight?" Grant asked once they were in cover.

"Yeah, yeah I'm good to go."

"Good. Enemy counterattack!" the two stood up and returned fire, cutting down the hostiles that had grouped together. "Rooftop at my one o' clock!" Holliday raised his rifle and used up his clip hitting the sharpshooters that were aiming down at them.

Steadily, the pair made their way back to the staircase of the overpass and continued to defend from there. "APC!" another armored vehicle rolled out of the alley, firing its gun at the HUMVEEs.

"Grant I'll knock out the treads with a grenade. You finished it off with a frag!"

"Copy that!" Holliday slammed an M203 round into the launcher, aimed at the side of the APC and fired. He missed, only making a black smudge on the armor. He reloaded and tried again. This time the grenade hit the tread dead on. It broke and slid off the wheels.

Holliday provided cover fire for Grant, who dropped his LMG and sprinted for the APC. He pulled out his pistol as he jumped onto the front, shooting an enemy as he opened a hatch. Another enemy was taken down by Grant as he clambered onto the turret.

He pulled the pin on a frag grenade, kicked open the hatch and dropped it in. Grant kicked the hatch back down and stepped off. The grenade detonated, generating a metallic explosion within mixed with screams. Grant hopped back onto the APC and grabbed onto the machine gun mounted on top of the turret.

Holliday watched as Grant used the machine gun to kill the remaining PLR who were attacking from the alley. But he saw a silhouette moving on a rooftop, and Holliday was sure it had a rocket launcher.

"Grant, get off the MG!" Grant was still firing the machine gun and couldn't hear Holliday. "Grant! _Grant!_" Holliday ran for the APC, scrambled on and pulled Grant from the turret. Before Grant could even ask what he was doing Holliday flung himself from the APC's turret along with Grant. The rocket destroyed the APC but with that, the survivors of the attack retreated.

Holliday helped Grant to his feet. They dusted themselves off and Grant gave a curt nod towards Holliday.

_"Get some bodies up on the eastern perimeter. Reorg and grab ammo on the way over." _

"C'mon Doc, I know a nice little spot where we can get the drop on anything that moves." The pair retrieved their weapons, including the M39 and the Javelin. Following the HUMVEEs to the right of the overpass under a large archway, they ran for a ladder that Grant had pointed out.

But the ground shook and rumbled and the two lost their footing.

"Sir, what the hell was that? Are we going to have another earthquake?"

_"Those are aftershocks. Hold your ground." _Captain Brady assured them, but Holliday could sense the hint of nervousness in his voice. He and Grant climbed up the ladder and set up along some sandbags near the second, smaller ammo cache.

"Okay Doc, set up that rifle's bi-pod. I'll go prone with the LMG." The rooftop of the building they were on was lower than most of the buildings around them, but it still provided a good vantage point on the T shaped road ahead of them. The area was not cleaned up as well as the previous one; rubble clogged the alleyways and cars were thrown all over the road.

Voices could be heard in the distance and Holliday tensed up, his grip tightening on his rifle. "Stay ready, they're regrouping." Overhead, a Little Bird attack chopper joined the defense, giving some relief to Holliday on the ground.

_"Eyes on multiple enemies, light'em up! Weapons free pour it on them!" _yelled the Little Bird pilot. Holliday began to pick off targets as Grant suppressed them to keep the enemy from moving. They either moved down the main road or through the parking lot. Down the road they were easy to snipe for Holliday. Through the parking lot to the right of the road, the PLR were easily cut down by Grant.

The Little Bird changed direction and buzzed way.

"What…what the hell? Where's it going?" Holliday asked as he reloaded. A new, larger wave of enemies appeared that made more progress than the last. But through enough ammo, the HUMVEEs, Holliday and Grant were able to hold them off.

To their dismay another wave arrived this time with armored support. Again, the pair responded with a Javelin rocket which destroyed the APC. As the third wave started to press their attack, Captain Brady came over the comms.

_"Birds are ready to lift off. Let's get outta here!" _

Holliday and Grant scurried down the ladder, following the HUMVEEs as they started to move out of the city.

"Come on, come on!" Grant shouted as mortars started shelling the streets again.

"They're right behind us!" Holliday cried as they found some cover on the highway. The HUMVEEs had sped from sight and the two were left fighting the advancing PLR again. The chopper was nowhere in sight.

"Where the hell is it!"

The chopper finally appeared and circled once before landing on a clearer spot on the road. Holliday ran first with Grant beside him.

His mind was focused on nothing but getting to that chopper. Behind hundreds of PLR were swarming in to finish them off. Holliday wasn't going to die here.

The pair jumped into the chopper, firing at the enemies that were now below them, firing at them and the retreating convoy. Once they were clear, Grant and Holliday exchanged a glance, amazed that the two of them had been able to hold.

Back at basecamp, Holliday and Grant were sitting silently in Captain Brady's tent at his request. The whole base was overloaded with wounded, and some had been moved to their tent. Moaning and cries of pain filled the air, as well of the stench of blood and flesh.

"Maybe'll we get some R and R after what we just did." Grant said, breaking the silence between them.

"I doubt it." Holliday sighed, rubbing his face.

"Handled yourself well out there- that was a nice call on the APC that snuck up on us…"

"Thanks…you deaf asshole." Grant snorted and smiled. "Y'know, maybe we will get some R and R."

"Sadly no." Captain Brady strolled up, putting a hand on Holliday's shoulder. "I've heard that the big dicks have already started cooking up a plan to go into Iran. But anyways, I've got something I want to talk to you two about, come with me."

Brady sat down on a nearby table across from Grant and Holliday- he was smiling. "You two did an excellent job out there today. I don't care what anyone says, you two are the reason any of those wounded marines got back here. You two are a pair of heroes."

Grant snorted and Holliday rolled his eyes.

"Thanks for saying sir." He said anyways.

"I'm putting you two in for some medals and promotions to sergeant but I got something better." Brady sat down; his eyes alight with a new idea.

Brady was a younger officer compared to men like Cole, but just as experienced- if not a better commander. Although his actions shifted towards recklessness, he was a favorite among the marines since he had risen through the ranks legitimately from buck private to captain. Brady was also an ex-marksman, so as he put it, he didn't have time for bullshit.

Holliday and Grant looked at each other, than back at Brady. "You two work really well together, like a two man army. I'm giving you a special callsign: Snake Six-Six. You two are gonna be my elite, my shock troopers. If I got a sticky situation that needs handling, you two are going in. Sound good?"

"Yes sir." Grant answered immediately.

"Sounds good to me, sir."

Brady smiled and clapped his hands together and rubbed them with a laugh.

"Great, you two are gonna be one of my most valuable military assets. Hell, maybe you'll even be recognized enough to do some PLR priority target hunting." Brady left the two, who looked at each other with doubtful looks on their faces.

"Next he'll make us save the world."


	4. Chapter 4

****Mhm, short chapter. People who read my story tend to dislike this. I think it's actually good to throw in a short chapter every so often to cover a few points and to give readers a break from longer chapters, because reading them can become tiresome, difficult and such like. Anyways, I also wanted to throw in a little interaction between Blackburn and his fiance/girlfriend Charlene. That's actually real; according to the wiki, he actually does have a fiance/girlfriend Charlene. So I thought it might buff up the story with a little romance between the couple.

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><p><strong>Chapter Four: Bad News<strong>

SSgt. Henry Blackburn – 1st Recon Marines

April 1, 2014. 1130 Zulu Time

FOB Havoc

A couple weeks had passed since the earthquake. The marines in Iraq had regrouped and were going to be reinforced by fifty-thousand more. They were going to be invading Iran to remove Faruk Al-Bashir from power.

That meant no one was going home anytime soon, which also meant Blackburn had to tell Charlene.

Blackburn had been allowed to use one of the computers in his camp to have a video chat with Charlene in their home. Needless to say, he was nervous. Matkovic had offered to be there for assistance, which was in his nature, but Blackburn declined.

The window opened and the video chat connected. Charlene appeared on the screen and Blackburn smiled.

"Hi Henry!" she said with a mixture of happiness and relief. Blackburn found that he was speechless. Charlene looked more radiant than ever. Her short dark hair was shining, her green eyes sparkled. More freckles dotted her nose and cheeks.

"Hey Charlene, how're…" Charlene interrupted.

"I heard everything about the earthquake Henry! Were you there?"

"Yes but…"

"Oh my god; are you alright! Did you get hurt!" Blackburn chuckled a little and held up his arms. Charlene gasped and covered her mouth. Both of Blackburn's forearms were wrapped with bandages up to his elbows. Charlene couldn't speak, even after Blackburn lowered his arms. He could see the tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

It was a minor wound and Blackburn knew she knew it was. But Blackburn knew that it wasn't the wound that was tearing her up. It was the fact that he was so far away, that he was actually in the disaster, that he was hurt, that he had almost died. And Charlene wasn't there to help him with any of it, which killed her the most.

"The rest of me is alright." Blackburn smiled and Charlene laughed a little, wiping at her eyes quickly.

"God, I'm just glad you're okay Henry."

"Me too…" Blackburn sighed and looked down a little.

"Henry? What's wrong?"

"You remember Jack? Jack Chaffin?" Charlene nodded. "Chaffin got wounded and we thought that he got evaced, but he got hit again and died on the way back." Blackburn shook his head and rubbed his forehead.

Charlene was familiar with Chaffin- with all of Blackburn's team. A few years back, they were all getting ready to go on leave when they decided to accompany Blackburn to Charlene's college to surprise her. They spent the next two days eating out and walking around town. Charlene befriended each one of the squad and invited them all to the wedding.

She knew it was hard for many military men to stay in touch, but somehow Blackburn and his buddies had been able to stick together all this time.

"I'm sorry that you lost Jack. He was a good man, Henry, and I know he felt really close to you." Blackburn nodded.

"He was a good man." Blackburn looked up and smiled a little. "I miss you Charlene." Charlene smiled back.

"I miss you too, but you'll be home soon, right? Your enlistment is supposed to be up soon, and you can come home." Charlene squealed a little and started going over the wedding plans. She was so happy, so delighted to be talking to Blackburn about the decorations, the people coming, how she planned to have it behind the old church among the pink leaved trees that grew there.

Blackburn listened, feeling the dread of having to tell her build up inside his chest. Eventually he couldn't bear it anymore and he stopped her.

"Charlene they're sending us back in."

Charlene stopped midsentence. She blinked a few times, staring at the screen in disbelief.

"What?"

"They're sending a large force to bolster our numbers here, and we're heading into Iran to eliminate the PLR."

"But, your enlistment is almost up; they just can't send you in there, not like that."

"They can, Charlene. They need every able-bodied man they can get, so I won't be sitting out the rest of my enlistment on the base or going out on patrol to the places I'm used to."

Charlene was allowing the tears to stream down her face now and it just increased the pain and guilt for Blackburn. "Honey, I…I…" Blackburn didn't know what to say. What could he say? Sorry? For what, he didn't want to go back in.

But as much Blackburn hated to admit, part of him did what to go back in. Half was for revenge, for Chaffin and the other marines who had died. The other half was a new drive he had. What Blackburn had seen that night, the man without the uniform taking the marine away was etched into his mind and nagged his memory constantly. It puzzled him, and Blackburn found himself wanting answers. Somehow, he believed that going into Iran would bring him the answers he desired.

"I'll keep an eye on'em Charlene." Blackburn looked sharply over his shoulder at Matkovic, standing a few feet away.

"This is a private thing Chris. Were you here this entire time, asshole?" Blackburn growled angrily, looked over his shoulder.

"Nah, I jus' showed up." Matkovic walked with a smile and sat down beside Blackburn. By then, Charlene had dried her face. "Hey, don't worry Charlene. Me and the fellas will make sure Blackburn stays outta trouble. He'll be safer than the President."

Charlene smiled.

"Thanks Chris, I know you guys'll take care of my Henry." Blackburn looked at his watch.

"Charlene we gotta go, it's someone else's turn now."

"Promise that you'll be careful."

"I promise Charlene." Charlene seemed to take some comfort and smiled so beautifully it made Blackburn smile back.

He touched her cheek where it appeared on the screen, running his cheek along the lines of her face. He wished he was actually touching her smooth skin, he wished he could feel the warmth of her touch again.

"I love you Charlene."

"I love you too Henry." Blackburn ended the video chat. He stared at the screen for a few moments and then covered his face with his hands. All of a sudden he felt very tired, like he just wanted to fall down.

Matkovic patted his back before wrapping an arm around his shoulder.

"God awful, shitty thing isn't it?" Blackburn lowered his left hand slightly.

"What is?"

"War- ya know what I mean? Keeps people apart, like you and Charlene. It's a terrible thing to keep people apart."

"You can write that in the book." Blackburn joked.

"You know I can't spell that well. I'll leave the writing to you."


	5. Chapter 5

****Now I have to say, writing this chapter was a pain in the ass. I mean, every chapter is a pain in the ass because I have to watch crappy Battlefield 3 playthroughs and I have to pause the video every few seconds to read the subtitles and scribe the dialog into the story. Some might see this as plagiarism, but if you want to write a fan-fiction novelization of the game you have to get the dialog right or else important stuff is gonna get left out! Know what I'm saying?

Course' you do. Now read. Do it.

You know you want to.

Please...

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><p><strong>Chapter Five: Going Hunting <strong>

Lt. Jennifer Colby Hawkins – WSO

October 31, 0600 Zulu Time

USS George H.W. Bush, Persian Gulf

The ship groaned as the waves rolled against the hull. Hawkins had finished putting on her suit and was now walking down the hallway to meet up with her pilot. Her blonde hair was tied back neatly so it wouldn't get in the way of her helmet. Her helmet was by her side, curled up by her arm.

The pilot, Keaton, was standing up ahead, waiting for her.

"Hawkins, we just got raised to alert one. Plans have changed; we're launching now" He said. He had short, neatly cut brown hair.

"Gotcha…" Keaton turned and started leading Hawkins to the flight deck. Keaton was an excellent pilot, but when he wasn't flying he was too much of a smartass than Hawkins would have liked. He always seemed to have a tone in his voice, especially with her, and the tone was never real friendly- almost like Keaton didn't like her. Keaton just wanted to show that he didn't want to be crossed by Hawkins, who was younger than and not as experienced as him.

Maybe it was because he had recently lost his original wingman. Hawkins understood. "So what's the mission brief on this fine morning?"

"CAG says we're special today." Keaton spoke over his shoulder. "We're not on station for some…whiskey delta ground support." They stepped through a doorway, ignoring the salutes of the orange-clad men who stood on either side. Keaton's voice became hushed, almost excited. "DASC is gonna fill us in airborne, but we're flying a strike mission over Teheran, into Mehrabad Airport."

"What's the big deal about that?"

"ELINT has sat images- they think they know where Al-Bashir is." Keaton stopped at the doorway on their right, as did Hawkins.

"Nice, might be able to end this whole thing here and now." The invasion had started back in mid-April, and the fighting had been long and hard against the Iranian Army, which was tougher and better equipped than they were originally thought to be. The Marines were slugging it out with them on the ground and were making slow but quickening progress through the country.

Keaton stopped as Hawkins stepped through the doorway, turning to face her. A red light above them tinted his face and he seemed like he was smiling, almost.

"So, get your fangs out, Hawkins. We're hunting big game today."

Hawkins grinned and followed him up the stairs, passing another deck worker.

"Anything else I should know?"

"That's pretty much it- there's Iranian bogeys in the air already. Pucker factor nine-point-seven." A wave crashed outside as they stepped onto the catwalk. Dark clouds loomed overhead and cold, heavy raindrops fell into the sea and onto the deck of the aircraft carrier. Other ships surrounded the big one, firing off the big guns or rockets into the sky every so often.

The pair went up the next flight of stairs, now on a catwalk that put them level with the flight deck. Their F-18 Super Hornet was sitting just ahead of them, canopy up, all fueled and ready for them. Other jets shot passed overhead, dancing around in the sky. "Faruk Al-Bashir is about to have a really bad day."

"Oh yeah, I'd hate to be that poor son of a bitch." Hawkins and Keaton stepped onto the flight deck.

"Okay, let's rock and roll." said Keaton, putting on his yellow flight helmet and lowered the front eye coverings. Hawkins looked down at her helmet and for a moment, stared at the shark on the back. She put on her helmet and the noise of the flight deck and rain became muffled, as if it were miles away from her. Hawkins followed Keaton up the ladder as the flight crew, dressed in yellow and green made their finishing touches on the jet.

Keaton jumped into the front and Hawkins took her position in the back half of the cockpit, reading her name on the armor as she did. Her nickname, Wedge, was also print on the gray hull; it was a stupid nickname. Her hands flowed along the control panel for a moment before she clicked on of the buttons, turning on the four screens in front of her. "Close the lid will you."

"Lowering canopy…" Hawkins pulled a switch and the canopy came down, locking itself tightly.

_ "Shark Four-Six, you're second in line." _The controller said over the radio.

_"Shark Four-Six, roger." _Keaton said back. His voice was now going through her radio as well. Hawkins let Keaton do most of the talking during takeoff and flight.

_"Okay sir, I need you to go ahead and tap the brakes and check flaps and stabs." _

_ "You heard him Hawkins, flaps and stabs, left side?" _

Hawkins looked over her left shoulder, watching the flaps and stabs move correctly as a deckhand watched. He gave them the all clear.

"Flaps and stabs left side are good."

_"Okay, good. How're we on right side?" _Hawkins turned right and waited for the other deckhand to give her the signal.

"Right side is good to go."

_"System check weapons, initiate HMD visor." _Hawkins tapped her control panel and reached up to her helmet, turning on the helmet heads up display. The HUD cycled through several light green colored images- weapons lock, a grid, and others.

"HMD visor is all set."

_"Gotta green light up front; switch to cannon." _Hawkins did so and test fired the trigger, hearing the sound of the big gun moving. _"Okay, gun spun up- looks good. Check missiles." _Hawkins switched over and performed the tracking system. _"Missile system tracking, arm and check flares." _Hawkins tested the flare switch. _"Alright, weapons and counter measures good to go. Have good ends, good highs, good lows, no out lights. Ready in the back?"_

"I'm ready."

_"Here we go." _Hawkins held her thumb to the men on the deck, saluted, and put her hand firmly on the launch control.

_"Putting tension on…"_

_ "Let's do this!" _On the F-18 before them, the engines roared to life with fire and with much noise and shot down the deck and up into the air.

_"Here we go!" _Hawkins jet took off and in a split-second they were off the carrier and in the air. She felt the force push her into her seat.

"_Good shot. Good engines. Good end speed. Gear up."_

"_Shark Four-Six, turn heading two-nine-zero, how copy?" _

"_Shark Four-Six, good copy." _Keaton stated as he rolled the F-18 around to go on course. They circled over the small fleet and Hawkins watched as the other F-18, piloted by Captain Vance flew in beside them.

"_Shark Four-Six, this is Shark Four-Two, leveling off on your starboard." _Vance was the kind of man that Hawkins would want as a pilot. He was dependable and experienced and was much more polite and generous to her than Keaton.

"_Gotcha…"_ Hawkins watched as another jet took off from the carrier, leaving the deck almost empty. She looked forward as they passed over another, crowded aircraft carrier towards the coast. Their speed increased

"_Shark Four-Six, this Heavy Two-One-Two. Contact, eight miles. I have a flight of two, angels three. Climbing off the deck northwest of your position; turn to heading three-one-zero." _

"_Shark Four-Six, copy." _Keaton answered the controller. _"Heading three-one-zero angels three…" _The pair of F-18s took a large turn. _"Four-Two turn in now." _

"_Master arm on, master arm on, good light." _They picked up speed again, climbing upwards as they made their way to the coast again and to their destination.

"_Moving through cloud layer now, minor turbulence…" _

"_Roger, noted." _

"Don't worry; turbulence has never brought down a jet before." Hawkins joked over the comms, earning a chuckle and praise from Vance and a hushing from Keaton. The jets leveled themselves out and pierced through the lighter clouds. It became somewhat quieter as the engines decreased slightly in power as they headed inland. The clouds were thick so they were relying on their radar.

Hawkins looked down, checking her control panel.

"_Shark Four-Two, radar contact- closing fast." _Vance took his F-18 over the top of theirs so he was now on their left.

"Are these the Iranian bogeys?" Hawkins asked.

_"Yes they are. Here we go. Tally two, no IFF tone back." _A moment later, Hawkins heard the sound of chainguns and tracer rounds flew back their jet. Bullets peppered the hull but didn't inflict any real damage. Vance and Keaton turned the F-18s to the left as the Iranian aircraft flew past their tiny formation. _"Motherfuckers!" _

"They went right past us!"

_"Bandits, bandits! Engage, break left, break left." _The two F-18s turned and were now looking at the two Iranian jets who were flying away from them.

_"Shark Four-Six, they're splitting. I'm engaging, pushing the one to the left." _Vance informed them. That was another trait Hawkins admired in Vance- he was bold and always made the first move when it came to these situations.

_"I got the one on the right." _Keaton said back, following the said jet. The Iranian bogey fired multiple flare countermeasures as it turned.

_"Two-one-two, Shark Four-Six. Confirmed bandits, V-ID on two; engaging at angels six." _

_ "Shark Four-Six, copy." _

_ "Here we got Hawkins!" _Keaton got right on the tail of the Iranian ahead of them, who was slightly above and performed a barrel roll. _"Bogey dumping flares…"_ The Iranian then stopped his aircraft, its nose pointing upwards, letting Keaton and Hawkins fly right past. _"Fuck! He's bled his speed- he's on my six!" _

Hawkins watched the hostile jet as they turned. _"Shit, where's he at Hawkins?"_

"Still right on our six!" Hawkins was trying not to sound panicked but this was one of her first times in the sight of an enemy jet.

_"Stay with him." _The warning alarm of the Iranian locking his missiles onto them started to sound off.

_ "Enemy lock!" _the alarm became constant steady noise for a moment until the enemy fired its missile, turning into a quick louder pace. Hawkins instantly pressed for the countermeasures, and watched as the flares shot out behind them. The missile turned angular and followed one of the flares. _"Flares out! Flares out!" _Keaton said, sounding relieved and breathing heavily.

_"He's tracking!" _The bogey locked onto them again, and fired another missile. _"Dump flares." _Hawkins launched another mess of flares and watched as they deflected the rocket like a shield.

In a fit of frustration, as it appeared to Hawkins, the enemy pilot fired the chain gun. The bullets hit the jet and the canopy, but again there was no damage. _"Shit, incoming thirty miles! Hold on- dumping speed! Keep visual, hang on!" _Keaton rolled the F-18 around to try and get on the Iranian who had failed to follow and was now dropping more bundles of flares.

They were now on the six of the hostile jet and Hawkins felt her heart race. _"Come on, lock him up Hawkins!" _Hawkins reached up and turned on the HMD heads up display. They quickly locked on. _"You've got tone, fire!"_

"No, he's going to dump flares!" Before Keaton could shout at Hawkins, the bogey did drop a few flares. Hawkins waited, her thumb poised over the fire button. The bogey dropped a second set and Hawkins fired once they were clear. The missile slammed into the bogey and it burst into flames.

_"Good hit, good kill, splash one. Incoming thirty millimeter!" _another Iranian jet entered the fight, firing its gun onto their F-18.

Keaton took them upwards and leveled out, searching for another target. Hawkins watched as Vance and the other jet chased each other around, each trying to get into a position to avoid or make a lock on.

Hawkins looked back and looked for their next victim.

_"Bandit, bandit, on my six!" _shouted Vance.

_I'm on him, get ready to break! Get him Hawkins, get tone, get tone!" _The bogey didn't seem to notice Keaton and Hawkins as they rolled in behind him. Hawkins locked on and fired. The missile hit dead center and destroyed the enemy aircraft. _"Nice job, Hawkins." _

_ "He's pulling hard…"_ The third bogey seemed to be heading right for them.

"Son of a bitch!" Hawkins locked on quickly and fired. The bogey didn't have time to turn as the missile hit right on the nose, almost splitting the jet as it burned into pieces. Keaton rolled them to the side and rolled the jet again in a sort of victory dance.

"_Bandit, bandit, bandit; seven o'clock low!" _Keaton started going down and Hawkins went for the lock on, got it, and fired. The missile left a trail of white smoke and turned to follow the jet as it tried to escape. The missile was faster, caught up and hit the enemy jet. _"Good shot, splash one." _

"_Damn Hawkins, four shoot downs in one day, didn't leave anything for us." _Vance complimented over the comms.

"You could say thank you for saving your ass a second ago."

"_Thank you." _He mocked.

Keaton turned, rolled and leveled out after moving upwards. Vance rolled his jet over Hawkins and Keaton's before taking its place on their right.

"_Heavy Two-One-Two, this is Shark Four-Six. Splash multiple bandits." _

"_Copy that Four-Six. Turn to heading two-eight-zero, continue with original strike package destination."_ Hawkins gave a little wave, and Vance returned it, but he quickly looked away.

"_What the hell? I got radar warning!" _

Hawkins looked over her right shoulder and saw another Iranian aircraft come up.

"You have a bandit on your six!" the hostile quickly locked on and fired a missile. Vance fired his flares too late and the missile passed them and into Vance's jet. The back exploded and the rest caught fire, breaking apart as they went down.

Hawkins watched in despair as they turned away to counter.

"_Breaking!" _Keaton yelled, distraught. _"We just lost Shark Four-Two, I'm defending. Watch our six." _Hawkins recovered and looked back towards the tail.

"We've got two bogeys on our six." The locking alarm went off.

"_He's tracking. Enemy lock…flares out. Flares out." _Hawkins launched the flares and the missile went off in another direction. The same feat was repeated twice as Hawkins warded off another missile with the flares and Keaton tried to out-turn their foes.

Keaton was able to break off from them and at the same side they seemed to do the same. _"Starboard side, he's pulling onto the right side!" _

Hawkins activated her visor again and got the lock. She waited for him to finished launching his countermeasures after their turn and fired. The enemy jet tried to make one last quick move before the missile struck them but failed.

Hawkins looked back to see the other Iranian wasn't exactly after them, and she wasn't sure why he hadn't come after them while they had taken down his wingman. _"He's breaking left- left side! He's pulling hard! He's pulling onto our port side!" _

Keaton maneuvered so they were directly behind the enemy fighter and they began to climb upwards. Hawkins locked on and began to wait again, ignoring Keaton's cries for her to fire the missile. Right after he launched his four set of flares, Hawkins fired and the missile took down the final enemy bogey. _"Good kill." _

Hawkins remained quiet. There was a small hope that somehow Vance and his partner had made it out, but it was unlikely. They had been hit too hard and too fast and the jet had broken up. Two good men were dead.

Keaton performed another victory roll as they went back on course. Hawkins looked down at the land below, to see if there was anything like a smoke trail. Hawkins never liked the fact she could never stop hoping for something that she should have given up on.

They turned and level out. Keaton went back onto the comms. _"Heavy Two-One-Two, Shark Four-Six. I'm now joining strike formation, over." _Hawkins clicked off her visor and got ready for ground strikes. In front of them, A-10 Warthogs and other F-18s were already in formation over the airport.

"_This is Bulldog Three-Three. Flight of two, coming up on your nine." _

"_Roger."_ As they fell behind the A-10s they could hear explosions. Flak guns were firing up at them. Black clouds puffed up all around them, sending visible pieces of shrapnel firing everywhere. _I'm getting multiple SAM signals coming from the airport." _Ahead of them, one of the A-10s was hit from the ground and broke apart, making Keaton turn to avoid the wreckage. _"We just lost Bulldog Three-Two. Hawkins, switch over to targeting pod and take them out." _

Hawkins clicked the control panel and pulled a few switches and shifted over the camera so she was looking down on the airport.

"All set for targeting."

"_Heavy Two-One-Two, Four-Six; rolling onto target area with potential high value target, over."_

"_Roger, you have ground element callsign Misfit One-Three in the area- and Striker Two-One and Two-Two coming in for JDAM drop." _More flak was being fired up at them, closer and closer to the F-18.

"_Goddammit, they're getting close with those rounds…Four-Six is switching over to AGM Eighty-Eight. Alright Hawkins, switch us over to ground attack." _

"Roger that." Hawkins went over to HARM missiles and got ready for the launch.

"_Start marking the SAMs. Make sure we get a good tracking on their radar before you fire." _Hawkins positioned the targeting reticule over the first SAM position, got the lock and fired. She kept the circle on the position until she saw the rocket come right down on top, destroying the threat.

"SAM site down, moving to second target."

"_Don't let them lock us up."_

Hawkins repeated the steps and took down the second SAM site. The alarm was duller than before but was going faster. The anti-air fire wasn't as fire but get more frantic and closer. Hawkins went to the last site and destroyed it, and the anti-air and flak stopped. _"That's three." _

Three columns of smoke were now rising from the destroyed SAM positions and Hawkins could see the fire from the third site.

"_Four Six, Misfit One-Three…we have eyes on fuel trucks crossing the tarmac. Looks like they are headed for fighters, how copy?" _

"_Striker Two-Two, we're lasing targets for you now, how copy?" _

"_Roger. Rolling in, stand by." _Striker Two-Two sounded professional. He spoke quickly and in a low, cold voice. Misfit One-Three's voice was new to Hawkins. It sound tired and a little rugged- a marine's voice.

Hawkins selected the JDAM bomb guidance controls, changing the circle reticule to crosshairs.

"_Four-Six copy. Okay, Hawkins. Switch to infrared and find them." _Hawkins did so, and any hot targets were now white. She quickly found the four jets, all in different spots on the airport.

"_Four-Six, reference the main terminal. There's one across the runway now." _said Reaper One. Hawkins put the crosshairs over a jet near the main building, lased it and kept the crosshairs over the target. Striker Two-Two flew over the target, dropping the JDAM. A moment later, the jet exploded.

_"Good kill." _

_ "Shark Four-Six, you have another one near the radar tower." _It was Misfit One-Three again, but with another lighter voice that had more of a commander's tone to it. Hawkins went over to the tower jet and lased it.

_"Tracking your target, bombs away." _the parked enemy jet was torn apart by the JDAM and a shower of sparks flew upwards.

_"Hit! Good kill, good kill." _Hawkins went after the other two and the Striker flight destroyed them. The airfield airspace seemed clear to Hawkins.

_"Shark Four-Six, there are aircraft coming out of the harden bunkers. They're trying to take off, over." _The first Misfit One-Three came on.

_ "Four-Six, roger…Hawkins, reference those three bunkers across from the main terminal. Use infrared and lase them for Striker Two-Two." _Keaton ordered. Hawkins went to the three bunkers and watched as the first enemy jet went onto the small runway. Hawkins moved the crosshairs over the jet and a JDAM fell right on top of it.

_"This is Misfit One-Three; you got another fighter turning onto the runway now." _

Hawkins locked on and another JDAM took down the jet before it could take off. _"Good kill!"_

_ "That's the last one." _Keaton said.

_"This is Misfit One-Three; I have three vehicles moving along the runway. This might be our HVT, wait-out. Shark Four-Six, stand by to engage if the target is verified, how copy?" _

_ "Roger. Okay, Hawkins get ready to lase them for Bulldog Three-Three." _

Hawkins spotted the three vehicles, highlighted in white by the infrared. She followed them as they drove across the tarmac.

_"Misfit One-Three, Heavy Two-One-Two. Be advised, you have a single aircraft approaching from the south at low speed, altitude five-zero-two. Do you have eyes on, over?"_

_ "Roger, it's a helicopter. Looks like it's headed for the vehicles." _

_ "Roger, you have Four-Six on station." _

_ "Four-Six, this is Misfit One-Three, we need them to get out of the cars so we can verify it's our target. Stand by to engage."_

_ "Roger. Bulldog Three-Three, we will lase the gun run, how copy?" _

_ "Roger, solid copy. Comin' around now…" _Hawkins watched as the three cars parked around the landing chopper and small white figures jumped out.

_"They're definitely PLR. You are cleared to engage- you are clear to engage." _

_ "Pain the area, Three-Three is standing by." _Hawkins pressed the button and designated the gun run strike position for Bulldog. The marker was set.

_"Roger, two seconds. They are definitely PLR- you are clear to engage, you are clear to engage." _

"_They're boarding the helicopter!"_

The A-10 flew by overhead and the designated area was lit up by a line of white explosions that split the chopper and half. The two halves tumbled along the pavement and the surviving soldiers started to disperse as two of the cars exploded. A few jumped into the third car and started to drive off.

"_Good hit, good hit, on target!"_

"_Good kill."_

"_Roger."_

"_We have individuals running; you are cleared to take them out too." _

"_Roger." _Hawkins had to choose between the car and the group of hostiles. She chose the group of surviving PLR, not wanting them to chase after Misfit One-Three. The mark was left and Bulldog swooped in, gunning all of the enemy PLR down.

"_Misfit One-Three, all callsigns be advised. We have friendly units securing the airbase now. Negative on further ground attack, how copy?" _

"_Roger, solid copy. Switch off the camera; let's get back to the boat." _

Hawkins sat back in her seat as Keaton boosted speed, turned and headed back for the Gulf. _"Heavy Two-One-Two, Shark Four-Six, egressing out of target area."_

"_Roger, turn to heading zero-four-zero. Watch for traffic when feet are wet. Two-One-Two, out." _

By the time they were back at the Gulf and the fleet, it was nighttime. Hawkins had turned on her night vision as they came in. The control board in front of her shimmered in the dull green light.

"_Shark Four-Six, you are approaching glide path, slightly out, course correct at three miles. Shark Four-Six, two miles out." _Keaton made slow turns as they came in.

"_Hook down."_

"_Shark Four-Six, got your hook down. Looking good- you got the ball." _

"_I got the ball, bringing her down." _

"_Twenty knots, on the ball."_

"_Eight hundred…seven fifty…six hundred…"_

"_Power, power!"_

"_Five fifty…five hundred…" _They were now lined up with the aircraft carrier.

"_Right on the ball, bring her down!" _They hit the deck, rolled forward and stopped. Keaton powered the engines down until they were off. Hawkins took off her helmet and set herself free. After a few minutes they opened the canopy and Hawkins felt the night air against her face.

She didn't get up. Keaton was already up and leaned over.

"You alright Hawkins?"

"Yeah…I'm fine."

"There was nothing we coulda done for Vance. That Iranian slipped past both of us." Hawkins nodded. Keaton watched her for a moment, actual concern on his face. Hawkins looked up at him.

"Do you think we actually hit Al Bashir?" she asked. Keaton paused, as if taken off guard by the question.

"Well, yeah we got him. He was getting into the chopper and if he survived that he for sure didn't make it out of that second run."

Hawkins again nodded and got out. As the pair headed below, she couldn't help but feel that somehow, they had failed their mission.


	6. Chapter 6

****Actually just finished this chapter up tonight. I like this mission in the game and I liked writing it. I didn't realize I'd be throwing in so many unfunny movie jokes that were my own and from the game's. I did add in a little bit in the end there just in case someone gets a little confused at to why someone's coming in the next mission.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Six: Operation Guillotine<strong>

SSgt. Henry Blackburn – 1st Recon Marines

October 31, 0645 Zulu Time

Tehran, Iran

After calling in the airstrikes just a bit earlier, Blackburn and the rest of his team were now on top of a hill looking over the city after riding quickly off the hill that had been overlooking the airport. He was lying on his side, looking at Montes and Matkovic who were crouched side by side, clutching their weapons as they looked down at the lights.

Montes whistled.

"That is a big city." Smoke was already rising, explosions thundered in the distance and flashing tracer rounds flew into the sky.

"It is. No gun trucks yet." Matkovic added.

"Nope; the wheels of fate turn slowly, my brother." Montes smiled as he said this, jokingly.

"It's gonna be crawling with Iranian infantry, so be ready for close quarters." Blackburn reminded them. Montes and Matkovic nodded. Blackburn heard a rustling and looked back as Captain Cole crawled up beside Campo who was prone behind the others.

_"Misfit, this is Haymaker." _

"Send traffic…" Cole whispered.

_"Misfit, BDA of airstrike targets turned up inconclusive. However, as of oh-three hundred hours, forward elements of Colonel Garrisons regiment took Jafiyeh Bridge. This puts Misfit and Haymaker in position to capture enemy structures housing strategic intelligence, break. Your first objective is Khajir Apartment complex beyond the canal. We will commence the assault in one mike. Get ready to step off."_

"Copy that." Cole raised himself up to a crouch.

"Are you shitting me?" Blackburn growled. "We went in there with good intel and Al Bashir wasn't there? What kind of bullshit is this?" The others nodded in agreement, their frustration evident on their tired faces. They had sacrificed two extra hours of sleep to go on their Battle Damage Assessment mission for nothing.

Cole looked through a pair of binoculars to their left. A convoy of vehicles, their lights piercing the dark, showed up a little bit away and started heading to the city.

"There's Haymaker. We're going." Cole put away the binoculars and raised his hand to his headset. "All callsigns Misfit, we are mission launch. Repeat, we are mission launch."

"Sir…"

"Roger."

"Blackburn, mortar up…" Blackburn took the mortar from Campo, who slid it forward. "Go, go, go!" all of the marines jumped up from their spots and they broke into a sprint down the hill. They began yelling as they charged towards the city.

Nothing happened for a moment.

"Incoming!" the sound of artillery falling filled the air and began landing among the ranks. Dirt flew up into the air and showered onto Blackburn's face and the others. He ran behind Matkovic. Matkovic had a sixth sense when it came to artillery, almost like he could predict where they landed.

"Reference stone wall under the overpass!" Gunfire broke out and more shells began falling. Blackburn saw several marines blasted backwards through the air by one explosion and Matkovic steered him away from that spot. Trees caught fire and many snapped up, toppling onto the ground.

Blackburn and the rest finally made it under the overpass, out of the kill zone. The others stopped in front of a concrete wall. "Set the mortar there. Check masks and overhead clearance!" Campo ordered.

"We're clear in this spot!" Blackburn shouted, crouching down and setting up the mortar. He fixed the legs down and pushed the tube up. Campo got on the other side of the mortar.

_"Campo, get some illumination rounds in the air, over." _Cole ordered. Blackburn handed Campo one of the rounds. Campo put it at the mouth of the tube and dropped it. They lowered the heads as the mortar tube made a _whump _and launched the shell into the air!"

"Come on! I Need rounds downrange ASAP!" it exploded, creating a green flare in the sky, lighting up the area on the other side of the wall. Two marines took over on the mortar and Blackburn went over to the wall. Montes was boosted over the wall by another marine while the rest waited their turn. "Get over that wall, like now. Go on, we got this!" shouted the marines taking over on the mortar.

Blackburn went up the marine and stepped up, resting his hands on the top. Ahead of him, marines ran down the path lit up by the green flares. They began running downwards to get to the apartments.

"Haymaker should be through here."

Blackburn took cover and checked his M4A1, which was now fitted with an ACOG scope, before heading forwards. He passed a group of crouched marines.

"You there, follow me! Keep pressing the attack, we can't lose momentum!" they obeyed and they ran down the slope to join the rest. They cook cover among the rocks.

"Taking fire from stone wall, dead ahead, one-hundred fifty meters!"

"Move forward to get out of their sights!" Blackburn led the marines down further until they were at the stream that was bordering the concrete in front of them. They turned and went down the new path among the rocks. They advanced slowly, shooting at the Iranian soldiers in front of them. They didn't prove much of a match and were gunned down.

The marines headed up some steps and looked at the slopes ahead of them. Two pockets of Iranian, one close and one on the far slope were pinning the marines down. Blackburn took cover and looked at another marine team.

"Enemy MG, other side. Use the canal and flank it!"

"Come on, frag them!"

Blackburn suppressed the nest until some marines whipped frag grenades on the closer MG nest. They detonated, sending sandbags, dust and bodies everywhere.

"MG position destroyed!" someone shouted as they moved up to the next slope and set of cover to engage the next MG next. "Enemy footmobiles on the hill!" Blackburn aimed down his scope and pulled the trigger slowly, taking down several of the Iranian soldiers before they could take cover.

By then the second MG nest was knocked over and the marines pressed up the hill.

"All MG positions are down, push through to the building! Let's go, through the building!"

Blackburn ran up the hill, diving over the sandbag cover. He went prone and shot down three Iranian soldiers. Montes ran passed him, firing on the retreating enemies. The marines behind them kept up the fire, raking down enemies lit up by the mortar flares.

The Iranians cleared out, so Blackburn and the rest moved up the stairs. Montes tackled one that was left and beat him down with his LMG. They all then trained their weapons on the corner building in front of them. A squad of marines crouched under the windows and tossed a frag grenade in.

The explosion blew off the door and a burning enemy stumbled out, screaming. Someone was kind enough to put him out of his misery.

"Clear."

"Let's move up." Blackburn said, let his rifle drop by the sling and pulled his shotgun into his hands. The rest of his squad joined him and went through the ruined kitchen area into the backroom.

"Door." Montes and Campo got on either side. They tested the handle and the door didn't move. Blackburn gave the door a kick, and it didn't budge. He recovered and put his boot up against the door and put his strength into it, forcing the door open and knocking down a small fridge.

Blackburn snorted.

"Assholes are so desperate they're using a god damn fridge to slow us down. Amateurs…"

"Guess we are making progress then." Montes shrugged. It had been a grueling invasion, with heavy fighting. The past few months had claimed many lives on both sides, but it showed that the Marines were winning the fight. Not that the fight was just over yet.

The team moved down the hallway, Blackburn taking the lead.

"In the doorway, direct front…"

"I got this." Blackburn went up to the door and went to open it. Instead an Iranian kicked it open, knocking Blackburn down onto his back. But before the Iranian fired Blackburn raised his shotgun and pulled the trigger.

The buckshot created a large, gushing hole in the enemy's chest and sent him two feet down the hallway. Blackburn stood up and used the rest of the shells in the shotgun on the three enemies left in the hallway.

"You alright? How'd that recoil feel on your arm?" Campo asked with a smile.

"Felt like it was gonna tear it right off. I'm sorry I took it." They moved through the hallway and out into the back alley through the garage.

Outside, the HUMVEEs were parked and the wounded were being tended to. As the team walked into the area, they spotted a familiar face.

"Captain Brady!" Campo called. Brady walked out of the dust, holding a rifle in one hand. He smiled at the team.

"Outstanding job securing the apartments; One-Three will detach from Misfit for this mission. You're with us." Campo exchanged and glance with Blackburn.

"Just like old times, huh Brady?" Blackburn asked as Campo got in the back of a HUMVEE with Matkovic and Montes too the well. Brady stopped as he opened the driver's door to his HUMVEE.

"Yeah, just like the good ol' days Black." He said with a smile. Blackburn got into the HUMVEE as Brady did, and leaned back in the seat, spreading himself out comfortably.

Holliday looked at Grant in the back of the HUMVEE and then at Captain Brady. Brady started up the HUMVEE.

"You know Blackburn sir?" Holliday asked.

"Sure do. He was a sniper, same as me; used to spot for him during our first years as marines." Brady smiled. "Thing is, I became a captain. He coulda been one too but got into trouble one too many times during an operation. But with good reason; he saved a lotta lives but had to knock some senior officers into place- literally. Blackburn is a man you can always trust to have your back. You _want _him in your foxhole."

"Sounds like you have a lot to say about him sir." Grant said.

"I do; guy saved my life more than once. I'd do anything for him."

Blackburn looked ahead as Brady pulled out in front with his HUMVEE and Montes started up to follow him. The HUMVEEs moved quickly down the road, taking a turn off the main highway.

"Sir, I'm wondering about this route." Campo said over the radio.

"_One-Three, it's the fastest course we could plot to the bank, over." _

"It's going to take us right up- I mean, that's all badlands after the tunnels sir." The HUMVEEs had to move among the abandoned cars on the road as they headed through the tunnel.

On the other side the HUMVEEs slowed a little bit, dodging the rubble on either side of the street.

"_One-Three, this is Haymaker, approaching Ashoura overpass. Scan your sectors, copy?" _

"Affirmative…"

"_Obstacles on the road; I know what it looks like. Bypassing an ambush is exactly what the ambushers expect us to do. We're not going to surprise the enemy by waiting. We need to seize the initiative." _

"I think I just agreed to be ambushed." Campo frowned. Although he was a friend of Brady as well, he had always been wary of his combat strategies. Campo liked to play it cautiously rather than just go blasting in all the time.

"Why don't we just shoot ourselves and save them the trouble?" Montes asked out loud.

"Seriously, we're gonna get jacked." Matkovic said.

"Not to mention the amount of traps they probably set up." Blackburn muttered.

"Frankly, gentlemen, I'm not hearing the aggression I'd like. Keep scanning."

"Nothing yet." They continued down the street, weaving in between the maze of cars that that had been left in the rain earlier that day.

"Shit, where is he going?" Campo growled.

"_Copy, One-Three. No need to turn back, we're going to push this vehicle out of the way, out." _Brady grinded to a halt ahead of them and the marines jumped out.

"You heard him, pull over." Montes parked behind them and they offloaded as well, checking and reloading their weapons. "Let's get this over with."

Three marines were busy pushing the car out of the way. Brady was walking forward to the other marines. They were hiding behind a large fuel taking, earning a disapproving look from Campo.

"RPG, overpass!" Matkovic shouted. The rocket flew down and hit the car the marines were pushing, always causing the front of the fuel tank to open and add to the explosion. The marines pushing the car were scorched and were thrown against the pavement. Blackburn was thrown to the ground as well and quickly got to his feet. The others recovered and grabbed their weapons.

"Over here! These motherfuckers!" Campo rushed forward, leading Blackburn, Montes and Matkovic up the street as the rest of the marines opened fire. Iranian soldiers on the overpass returned fire as well, trying to hit the advancing troopers.

The team quickly got down behind an overturned car and Campo waved to Captain Brady. "Keep them pinned down, we're going high. Blackburn, on me!" Blackburn got up behind him as they started running again.

All four marines darted up a nearby staircase and sprinted across the walkway under the overpass until they reached a door at the end. Checking their corners, Campo led them in and down the dark hallway. Up another staircase they came to a doorway and prepared to assault. "As soon as we are out, I want you guys to light them up with flanking fire. Roger?"

They all replied with a 'roger' as Campo kicked down the door and they quickly went out onto the road. The Iranian soldiers hadn't seen them perform their flanking maneuver and the team set up.

Campo tossed a frag grenade into a cluster that was collecting ammunition and Blackburn killed two that were still firing down at Brady and his men. The Iranians responded quickly as the marines started advancing, but were already falling back. A few charged forward in an attempt to hold but all were killed.

Blackburn ran up with the others to end of the overpass, which had partially collapsed and a few feet below the road it had once been a part of. They pulled themselves up onto the road and were immediately met with gunfire.

Advancing slowly, Blackburn and the others tried to pick off the Iranians. The road was cluttered with cars and lit up in only a few places.

"Didn't anyone think to bring fucking night vision goggles!" Blackburn complained as he slid down behind a car. Montes finished reloaded with a laugh.

"Of course, everyone was so excited to hit the capital we forgot the important stuff."

Again they pushed up the road, taking down more and more enemies. Matkovic threw a frag, eliminating the last bunch. Everything on their street grew quiet. The sounds of rattling gunfire still resounded throughout the city.

Campo made a signal, and the four marines start to advance slowly up the road with their weapons raised. Ahead of them the road was broken up, and a trench of rubble had been created through the middle of the collapsed road.

Before they could head through, the sound of a rumbling engine filled the air. On the left side of the street, an Iranian tank pushed through a wall.

"Tank- it's a fucking tank!" Campo shouted.

"Get the fuck outta here!" Montes screamed. The four marines scrambled into the twisting trench just as the T-90 fired. The tank continued firing at them, its' shells landing closer and closer to them as it rolled after them.

"There's a door, go, go, go!" Blackburn shouted, pointing ahead of them. Campo threw his weight against the door, forcing it open. At the same time, the tank fired and the shell landed behind them, launching all four marines through the doorway.

As the last of the broken up concrete blocked the door behind them, Blackburn's vision began to return. He could hear everything settling and the others coughing.

"Sound off!" Campo ordered.

"I'm good." Montes choked.

"I'm alright." Matkovic's voice was quiet and he sounded weak. Blackburn could only groan.

"Flare!" Campo held up the red flare, exposing Montes and him to Blackburn's view. Montes was still picking himself up. Campo helped Montes up a little. "You good? Good?" he repeated when Montes didn't respond as he dusted himself off.

"Motherfucker, that was a T-90 and I'm still breathing; I'm better than good- I'm fuckin' awesome."

"Blackburn…" Matkovic squeezed passed Montes as they looked down at him. "Blackburn, you okay?" he reached down, taking Blackburn's hand and pulling him up. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Blackburn mumbled, picking up his rifle. Matkovic nodded, still panting from their run. Montes was still coughing his lungs out. Campo turned around, looking at the complete darkness ahead of them.

"There's gotta be a way outta here." He tossed the flare onto the floor and it slid across the length of the hallway, showing them an exit at the end. "Let's go!"

Montes waved his arm forward. Everyone checked their weapons and moved through the hallway. They went down some stairs and down a lighter room with garbage in it. Captain Brady came over the comms.

_"Request immediate air; T-90 tank two-hundred meters from- how copy?" _

"That thing is gonna cut them apart man." Matkovic worried.

"There's fast air and Cobras on station." Campo assured but Montes shook his head.

"If they can get here in time…"

"Don't doubt Brady; he's a resourceful kinda guy. If I had to bet up on him on the tank, I'd bet on him." Blackburn smiled to himself. The team poised themselves near a door and went through, going up a staircase and onto the street again.

Ahead of them was a large building, almost tower-like. Lights were focused on it and through the dark Blackburn could make out defenses. He bumped Campo's shoulder and pointed ahead.

"I think that's the bank." Campo said, a little sarcastically.

"I guess so." Gunfire erupted close by and the tank appeared again, rolling backwards on the street near them. "Fucking T-90's back. We gotta do something." They all got lower, trying to get into better cover and staying out of sight.

"Shit, where's he going?"

"Matkovic, try AT." Blackburn said, but Matkovic shook his head. The tank had rolled too far back; his rocket launcher shell didn't have enough power to go through the front of a T-90. The turret turned and the barrel of the tank was now focused on them.

"Fuck!" the tank's headlamp flashed on, exposing the four marines. They darted back, trying to get some cover. Instead of meeting their demise, a Javelin rocket came down from above right on top of the tank. The tank was destroyed, and was soon covered with flames. "Burn, motherfucker!" Montes yelled as Matkovic a small crate out of the way.

They started moving forward, following the marines who were cheering and hooting on the kill.

_"All units we got enemy armor closing on our position- need assist, over." _

"We're gonna need more Javelins…" Blackburn sighed as he ran onto the road behind Matkovic.

"Get moving!"

_"More armor inbound!" _The Iranians guarding the bank started firing on the marines, who started to take cover and return fire as their advance slowed. _"T-90 in front of the bank, take it out!"_

_ "Infantry heading our way!" _yelled the Javelin team.

_"Okay here they come- left side, left side!" _Blackburn and the others hopped over the guardrails and went to a set of stairs. Campo gave the order and they jogged up just in time to see the two Javelin team members gunned down by the chagrining enemies. Quickly the squad engaged them and killed them.

"Holy fuck, Javelin team's down!"

"Secure that Javelin! Light that fucking thing up!" Campo ordered, pointing at the enemy tank. Blackburn slung his rifle over his shoulder, feeling the combined weight of it and his shotgun.

He picked up the heavy rocket launcher and moved over to a low wall. The tank fired, destroying a nearby trailer. "Shit! Move, move, move!" Blackburn locked onto the tank and fired. The rocket flew forwards, upwards and down with finality on the tank, effectively destroying it.

"Tank destroyed! Tank destroyed!"

"You're doing great, Blackburn!" Campo said as he passed by. Blackburn groaned as he readied the Javelin for another attack.

"Thanks _dad_."

He looked ahead at the marines who were getting closer to the bank. Hostile positions were set up on the windows and balcony like areas in the front on both the first and second floors.

_"We need this building secured." _Brady stated calmly over the comms, as if there wasn't even a battle raging around him.

"Roger! I'm seeing enemy personnel in the windows, engage!"

_"Tank on the right heading this way." _

_ Way ahead of you…_ Blackburn thought as he finished his lock on and fired, taking down his second tank that night.

"Tank- dead ahead!" Blackburn quickly prepped his heavy weapon again and went to a nearby corner of the wall. Another tank was rolling in on the left of the marines and Brady. But he was able to get a fix and knock that tank out too.

"Enemy armor destroyed, let's move!"

Blackburn tossed the Javelin away and got to his feet, moving forward with the others. He'd take the Javelin over night vision goggles any day. The marines regrouped around Captain Brady, who was crouched behind a lower part of the plaza leading up to the bank's entrance.

"Well this is good; let's go recon a burning, structurally unsound bank." Someone joked. Blackburn and Matkovic crouched and went over to Brady. His wore a brown shirt and his vest had a miniature American flag stamped on it.

"Anything we can do for you Brady?" Blackburn asked. Brady smiled, but his eyes were hidden behind his goggles.

"See if you can find a way in through the back, out." He said, thumbing to his left side.

"Plain and simple, I like it. C'mon Matkovic let's see what kinda trouble we can stir up."

"Roger." Running along the friendly firing line and joined by Campo and some other marines, Matkovic and Blackburn went to the left side of the plaza and went up the stairs to a green trailer. The Iranians spotted them and started firing and a large light flooded their area.

Blackburn managed to pop off a few shots, taking down a sharpshooter on the second floor.

"Shit! Come on, up there. Move, move, move!" a marine shouted. Matkovic led the way but the marine aiding them was shot, and Blackburn had to jump over his falling frame. The turned and went up another set of stairs along the bank's wall. They went around the corner slowly.

"Movement!" Matkovic and Blackburn got down behind some sandbags, quickly killing a few enemies in front of them. He tossed a frag for assurance before they began moving again. "Clear."

Matkovic got up against a wall at the end of the path and boosted Blackburn over the top. Campo arrived and then pushed Matkovic up as well. The area behind the bank was clear and the pair searched for a way to get in. Matkovic stopped and pointed up to a catwalk and a ladder that hadn't been completely lowered. "Boost me up."

"Get a running start." Blackburn shouldered his rifle and crouched in front of the ladder. Matkovic secured his rifle and got ready. He ran forward and stepped into Blackburn's hands and jumped up. He latched onto the second to last run with a grunt, swung a little and pulled himself up. He clambered up and detached the rest of the ladder, waiting for Blackburn as he climbed up as well. "This is some real secret agent shit, man."

"Yeah, real James Bond stuff." Matkovic walked to the end of the small catwalk.

"I don't think Charlene knows this is the kinda shit I really do."

"I don't think even _we_ imagined doing shit like this when we first joined up." Matkovic stepped up, balancing himself on the railing. Always a mover and a talker, something Blackburn liked about Matkovic.

Matkovic took a daring jump and grabbed onto a nearby open window. He hung from the railing for a moment before pulling himself through. "I'm in."

_Guess it's my turn._

Blackburn got onto the railing carefully, putting his hand on the smooth wall for stability. He jumped over, grunting as he grabbed onto the ledge. He lifted himself up to find Matkovic taking cover in the bathroom stall they were in. The room was trashy, and a body lying in a pool of blood was on the other side.

Blackburn squeezed in and fell down, landing in a sitting position on the toilet. Matkovic smiled and Blackburn looked up at him tiredly and not amused. He got up as Matkovic ventured out of the stall. He turned quickly to his left, his boot squeaking on the floor.

"Think anyone heard us?" The door flung open and hit Blackburn, making him stumble back. An Iranian soldier burst in in, swinging at Matkovic. Matkovic expertly blocked him, grabbed onto his shoulders and knee him in the gut. He lifted his arm up and twisted around the tango, wrapping both arms tightly around his neck from behind and turning the enemy's front towards Blackburn.

"I got him, I got him!" Blackburn stepped forward, dodging and blocking the Iranian's kick. He unsheathed his knife and thrust forward to his gut. The Iranian's hands shot out, snatching Blackburn's wrist just before the top of the blade reached him. "Now!"

Matkovic struggled to keep the Iranian in his grasp and quiet at the same time. He was grunting and groaning against Matkovic's arm as his arms were pulled back. His eyes met with Blackburn's momentarily before he stuck the blade into his throat, and pulled it along and out. Blood stained the handkerchief that was around his face and some dripped onto Matkovic's arm as he let him down quietly.

He silently retrieved his rifle and the two exchanged relieved looks, giving each other a pat. "Clear…" he opened a door as Blackburn was about to stow away his knife. "One more; knife, you go."

Blackburn moved forward towards an Iranian who was edgily guarding the open doorway in front of them. He brought the knife right into his throat and dragged him backwards. There was a yell and he looked up, seeing the enemy defenders changing direction.

"They've seen us, take cover and return fire." Blackburn dropped the body and joined Matkovic as they battled the hostiles taking cover in the few desk and cubicles ahead of them.

Matkovic provided cover fire as Blackburn put a hand to his headset.

"This is Misfit One-Three detached, we're in the bank and on the second floor. Watch your fire."

_"One-Three, we're in blocking position ground floor, clear your way to us, over." _

"Copy that. C'mon Matkovic let's go." They pushed ahead and turned to their left, tossing frags and killing the Iranians who were taking cover among the cubicles in front of them. On the third level, more shooters were appearing and Blackburn engaged them.

Reaching the end of the hurtle and enemies ahead of them, Blackburn and Matkovic ran to the left until they found some stairs leading down to a small meet of two stairs on the left and right. Montes and Campo had made it there and were now firing down at the remaining enemies that were trapped in the lobby. It was a turkey shoot and not before long the marines had killed them all.

"Good timing, let's keep moving." The squad reunited and headed downstairs, resupplying from some crates nearby. The rest of the marines moved in carefully, checking the lobby.

Blackburn and the rest of his team gathered below near a door that was under the spot they had just been at. Captain Brady walked up to them, cool and collected as ever.

"Gentlemen!" he said loudly, his voice echoing in the lobby thanks to the new silence. "We're looking for any sign of Al-Bashir. Find it, bag it. You guys, clear the basement- we'll sweep the rest of the building." Brady smirked and Blackburn mockingly saluted him.

"Roger. Blackburn, come on. Montes, door." Montes kicked the door open the team went in, passing a body and moving down the staircase. Turning to the right they found a long hallway with a few bodies littering it. On the right were some empty office rooms, the others were locked doors. One door, however, was open.

Blackburn checked inside and looked at the money that was stacked around inside. He whistled.

"You would think they woulda clear out this cash by now." He said.

"Think we should liberate it?" Montes asked with a smile.

"No, we shouldn't. Focus on the mission." Campo ordered as he and Matkovic went by. The pair followed the first and they came to an elevator shaft. Blackburn noticed a shotgun by one of the bodies.

"Are these guys guards or what?" Matkovic asked.

"Who cares, they're dead." Blackburn shrugged as he joined Campo and Montes at the elevator shaft. The elevator was hanging above them, jammed in between the walls. The rest of the shaft was clear. "Whatcha thinking Campo?"

"We can rappel down."

"Okay."

"Shaft looks about…sixty feet down." Campo crouched down and pulled out some rope and the rappelling clips. "Slow and quiet; pay out your rope carefully." Montes shrugged and waved his arms, obviously not settled with the plan. But he got his gear out anyways.

"Mission Impossible it is." Matkovic and Blackburn grinned at each other. Blackburn slung his rifle over his shoulder and checked his shotgun just as Campo was finished setting up and went down over the side, the rope going taught as he planted his feet against the shaft walls.

"Black, on point!"

"Always me…" Blackburn bent over and hooked up and went over the side.

"Keep tension on the line."

"I know how to work the fuckin' thing." The others just answered with a 'yep' as they hooked on and started to follow. They propelled themselves off the wall and they went down a little ways before going back on.

Voices drifted from below, sending a shiver down Blackburn's spine.

"I hear something down there- talking maybe." They kept rappelling down until they were they were right above the next exit. The Iranian voices below were getting louder and urgent; they probably had heard the sound of the ropes.

Campo and Blackburn looked at each other.

"Blackburn, prep a flashbang." Blackburn detached one from his hip, pulled the pin and tossed it through the doorway. It disappeared from his sight, _clanking _metallically against the floor. It detonated and the force pierced his ears and even made his vision a little blurry, but nowhere as bad as the feeling the enemy got from it.

Campo and Blackburn, right after the blast, rappelled back as far they could and through the shaft. Blackburn swung in, slamming both his feet into a dazed enemy soldier. Quickly freeing himself from the rope he fired his shotgun, taking down several Iranians and the one he had knocked down. The others started firing into the confused hostiles who started scrambling in every direction and firing their weapons blindly.

Bullet ricocheted off the walls and the large dark room was lit up by muzzles flashes. Paper money was ripped apart and the tatters flew all around.

Blackburn advanced down the left flank as the others went down the middle and right. He took cover behind the columns, reloading as he went before killing another enemy soldier. He went forward again, this time with haste, blasting down anymore that got into his way.

The enemy fire began to dwindle and Blackburn started to reload. Someone grabbed him from behind, trying to strangle him. Blackburn struggled against his grasp and smashed the back of his head into the enemy's face. He whipped around and struck him with the shotgun's stock and repeatedly did so until the enemy's head was pulp.

Blackburn glanced at his shotgun; the stock was cracked and barely hanging onto the rest of the weapon. He tossed it aside and returned his M4 to his hands.

"Clear!" he yelled.

"Alright, we're done. Let's get it on." Campo led them to the only other door in the room, a steel bar door. On the other side was a vault.

_Time to find the treasure…_

Campo peered inside, finding no one in the small room between the door and the vault. "You think maybe Al-Bashir is in there?" he asked, hopefully. They could use some good news.

"I dunno, let's find out." Montes suggested.

"Matkovic, open the gate."

"And by that he means blow it up." The others took cover on either side of the doorway as Matkovic planted a breaching charged on the handle pad.

"Fire in the hole!" he detonated the small explosive and Montes shouldered the door open with Campo right behind him.

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

The team looked around, finding two connected desks with an array of computers. They were all on and had the logo of the bank on the bright desktop screen. Matkovic stepped over to the desk, looking everything over.

"What the fuck is this?" he sat down in the chair and began tapping on the keyboard, trying to find anything he could.

"Montes!" Campo called. Blackburn had been looking over Matkovic's shoulder before turning around to look at Montes and Campo, who was nearly the partially opened vault door. "Smell that?" Montes sniffed the air for a moment and then looked confused.

"Smoke…Cordite."

"Let's get this door open."

"I'll cover you." Blackburn stepped forward the two marines began hauling the heavy door open.

"God damn it's heavy."

"Yeah."

"It's a bank vault door- it's _supposed _to be heavy." Blackburn rolled his eyes. Montes pretended to laugh as Campo drew his rifle.

"I'm going in." He slowly stepped into the vault, which had flickering lights inside. He was quiet for a moment. "Clear!" he stated, lowering his rifle. Montes opened the door completely and Blackburn ventured inside. There were laptops, folders, files and other intel lying on a nearby table. Large crates were also in the vault. "Holy shit, goldmine!"

Campo and Montes went over to the table with intelligence covering it.

"It's an operation room. Looks like they tried to destroy it…"

"No, look. Shit's still here. I want everything bagged and tagged." Montes nodded and started going through everything.

"Oh shit…we've got maps of Paris, New York. I got a train timetable here it says 'Six-oh-two'.

"Damn, I thought I'd only see stuff like this in the movies…" Blackburn murmured, joining Montes as he looked over the timetable.

"Holy shit…" Campo murmured, ignoring them. He was by a large crate. "Come over here!" he bent over and Montes did as well, getting ready to move the cover.

"Whoa, guys, this thing is radioactive." Blackburn stated, but he helped anyways. They started moving the lid, which seemed heavier than the vault door by the string in Montes' voice.

"Radioactive…" he groaned. "Is that a good idea?"

"We don't got a choice." Campo said as they removed the lid, stood up and looked inside. Inside were three large slots. The ones on the sides were empty. In the center slot was a large gray-black cylinder.

Everyone was silent for a moment as they started down at the object. They knew what it was. No one wanted to really believe what it was. It could have been a dream, or an unbelievable story. How did a few raggedy veteran marines find a nuclear weapon?

"Holy shit…you know what that is?" Campo asked finally.

"Russian- portable nukes…" Montes answered, looking at Montes in shock.

"No way…" Blackburn said quietly, then he narrowed his eyes. "Wait…but…" Campo nodded and looked at Montes.

"There's only one there." Montes's eyes widened and he shook his head.

"Wait, there's room for two more. Where the hell are the other two?" he yelled. Before anyone could say anything more, Matkovic got their attention.

"Hey, you need to see this!" the three marines jogged into the computer room. Matkovic had stood up and pointed at the screen. "There!"

On the screen there were three men. One was an Iranian soldier, quickly checking his surroundings while the other two men, in civilian attire, walked slowly along before stopping to talk.

"Oh shit!"

"That's Al-Bashir…who's the other guys?"

Blackburn leaned in, sizing up the unknown man. Then it hit him. It was the same guy- the one he had seen taking the marine away when he had woken after the earthquake. What was he doing with Al-Bashir? Who was he exactly? Was he tied to the nuke?

"I don't know. They're coming down! We need to secure the nuke and get the hell out of here!" Campo said to them.

"What about the intel?" Montes asked. Campo thought briefly, shaking his head and sighing.

"No. No, there's no time. Let's get the nuke and move."

There was a deep rumble above them- explosives.

"This whole building's gonna come down." Matkovic informed the others as he kept watch through the door.

"Campo, try calling Cole or Brady…" Blackburn urged. He had briefly told them about what he had seen that night when he had woken up, but for some reason he didn't tell them the connection- that it was the same person.

_I'll tell them about when we're out of here- the less questions we all have the better. _Campo had checked his headset.

"This is Misfit One-Three."

_"Misfit, this is Actual, send."_ Cole said over the comms.

"Misfit, we have secured what appears to be a WMD, break." The very word, WMD- Weapon of Mass Destruction, sent chills down all four marine's back. They had actually found one. "There may be more than one." There was silence for a moment.

_"Misfit One-Three, you're breaking up. Are you reporting WMD? Say again, you're breaking up." _

Campo fumed silently, looked upwards in frustration. He didn't both trying again, having seen too many movies and been in too many situations where attempting to contact command was pointless.

Above, there was another deep rumble. This time it shook the bank, and the sound of metal moving about could be heard. Montes looked up slowly.

"Oh, that can't be good."

"They're gonna be moving out of Tehran." Blackburn said. "They're not going to be coming down here for us. Brady probably already pulled his guys out of the bank."

"So what the fuck do we do?" Campo asked.

"I'll send a distress call; they'll send someone to get us."


End file.
